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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, 
By S. M. MILLS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




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L 


^ T was one of those pretty harbors that indent the 
M coast of Connecticut. 

The day was an early spring day. The morning was 
fair and bright, but towards evening a heavy breeze 
began to blow, and the skies overhead drooped with 
their weight of rain clouds. 

A few small skiffs and fishing smacks lay huddled 
together under the lee of a great rock that jutted out 
from shore. 

A flock of sea gulls occasionally swarmed across the 
waves, striking the white foam with their stretching 
wings, and vanishing out in the distance around some 
rocky point that led out into the open ocean. 

Porpoises sprang from crest to crest of the tossing 
waters in the bay, and tiny fish were tossed up on to the 
beach all tangled among sea mosses and rosy shells. 

A short distance from the shore was an hotel ; a large, 
old fashioned wide building, painted white, with green 


6 


PALilf BJ^ANCHES. 


blinds. A deep porch supported by tall, two story 
columns adorned the front of the house, giving to it, a 
very commanding appearance. 

A long line of evergreen hills marked the way down 
the valley where the coach road ran, and pretty villages 
connected with each other in a continuous chain until 
they reached the city. 

As night approached, village lights gleamed forth from 
the cottage domiciles in the valley, and through the 
hotel windows numerous lamp lights shone with a white, 
steady shining which was very pleasant to see in the 
midst of the sudden, blustering storm. 

A coach was out on the darkening road, rolling as 
rapidly as its four horses could draw it, towards the lofty 
hotel, which was fast becoming veiled in the evening 
gloom. The driver stopped a moment to light the lamps 
on the box, and then the huge vehicle rumbled on again, 
casting a flickering glow among the over hanging shadows 
of the pines, and the hillside cedars. 

“Is she asleep?” said a gentleman’s voice, breaking 
the silence in the coach which had lasted for over an hour. 

“ I think she is. Sir,” was responded in feminine tones. 

“She has hardly breathed since a long time. I hope 
we will soon be there, for this carriage road is not much 


PALM BRANCHES. 


7 


smoother than the railway train would have been, and I 
am afraid she will be very weary by the time we reach the 
inn’ The storm blows so coldly too. She will take her 
death chill,” the woman muttered anxiously to herself. 
Then raising her voice, she addressed some invisible 
individual. 

“ Andy,” she said. “ See if those curtains are drawn 
tight over the front windows. My ! this air is damp.” 

The invisible Andy attended to the curtains, and sank 
back into his corner, without a word.^ 

After that, there was another long silence, broken only 
by the creaking of the wheels, the trot trot of the horses, 
and an occasional brush over the roof, of a passing tree 
bough. 

It was dark in the stage, and only the travelers could 
have guessed how many were in it. 

House after house rolled by, each showing signs of life,, 
and then disappearing into the blackness. The road 
seemed to be interminable. The space in the coach was 
so narrow and cramped. At last it gave a final plunge, 
and another sudden halt, as the driver noisily stopped 
his horses, and bounded off the box to open the door. 


8 


PALM BRANCHES, 


IL 

HEN the evening -shades first began to appear, 
and the lights had been brought in, IMr. and 'Mis. 
Russell were seated in the quiet keeping room of the 
hotel. The click of Mrs. Russell’s knitting needles kept 
time to the monotonous pendulum that swung from the 
tall clock in the corner. 

Presently, the busy knitting ceased. A prolonged gust 
of the storm shook the windows. A solemn boom came 
from the ocean, as if the tossing waves echoed from its 
deepest cave ns. 

‘‘It is nine years to night, since our Hugh went away, 
Father.” Mrs. Russell said with a quaver in her voice. 

“Is it so long? Yes, so it is.” Mr. Russell replied, 
looking up from his newspaper. 

“ And it’s three years since we’ve heard from him at 
all. Maybe he is dead,” he added in a softened tone, as 
he hurriedly crossed the room to peer out into the sombre 
night. 

“ Maybe he will return at any time,” his wife hastily 
said, putting away the darker thought. “ But I always 



PJLAf BRANCHES. 


9 


am frightened when I hear the storm roar as it does 
to-night. 

‘‘ I think of our boy at sea,” 

As Mr. Russell stood gazing out into the gloom, two 
lamp lights drove up to the door. * 

Arrivals to -nigh I ! Who can it be.” 


III. 

IVE persons emerged from llie coach. 

A gentleman ; a lady, and three attendants. 

A broad light was streaming out across the porch, and 
the parlor door stood invitingly open. 

In another moment the travelers had entered the hotel. 

You are Mr. Russell?” The traveler who spoke, 
was an open hearted, genial Englishman. 

“I am, sir,” responded the host, acknowledging the 
foreigners at once. 

am Robert Langdon, of London,” The gentleman 
then went on to say. Of the House of Langdon & Co., 
India Merchants and Importers.” 

Mr. Russell bowed, as he took Mr Langdon’s card. 


10 


FALjW branches. 


“ You were expecting this lady. Were you not ?” the 
Englishman next inquired. 

The host glanced with curiosity, towards the wee 
woman which had been deposited upon the cushions of 
the parlor sofa. • 

“ Not that I know of,” he. replied, shaking his head 
doubtfully. 

“ She must belong to you, as she was coming here, 
and she says her name is Russell. She was picked up by 
one of our vessels in the Mediterranean, after a stormjn 
which her ship must have been wrecked. She does not 
talk much English, and we think she must be either 
Turkish or Persian, as she was found near the Island of 
Cyprus.” 

The lady had curled herself among the deep, soft 
cushions, and her large, dark eyes were glancing languidly 
around the room. A sort of contentment seemed to 
pervade her. 

She had pulled off her traveling hood, and her long, 
golden curls streamed over her shoulders, drooping down 
nearly to the floor. 

Coming in from the outdoor cold, had flushed her 
cheek with a hectic brilliaacy, while the panting breath 


PALM BRANCHES. 


1 1 


forced itself through the thin scarlet lips, with a tit-ed 
smile. 

One small, white hand rested under her head, and the 
pink, tapering fingers were loaded with precious gems, 
that flashed in the lamp light as if alive with their own 
vivid colors. 

“You see she is quite ill.” Mr. Langdon said, as his 
charge was attacked by a dry, choking cough. 

“ I think it would be better for her, if Margaret could 
take her to her own room to rest.” 

Before Mr. Russell could reply, his wife entered by a 
side door, and said to Margaret, 

You can follow me now, and bring the lady to her 
room, if she would like to come.” 

At the first sound of Mrs. Russell’s voice, the wee lady 
^traveler looked up suddenly, and listened intently to 
what she was saying. . Gradually one arm was upraised, 
and then the other reached out to clasp Mrs. Russell. 
Then the lovely creature talked rapidly in some unknown 
language. She laughed and wept, and the only word 
that any one could interpret, was “ Hugh.” She kept 
repeating, “Hugh, Hugh,” between her smiles and 
tears, until at last perceiving that her story was not un- 
derstood, a spasm of sorrow crossed- her face, and she 


12 


PALM BRANCHES. 


fell back among the cushions, weeping in a violent 
uncontrol. 

“ What does she say?” Mrs. Russell exclaimed. 

“I do not know, Ma’am,” answered Margaret, the 
maid. “I have never before heard her get so excited, 
although she often talks to herself in that strange tongue.” 

At the repeated sound of Mrs. Russell’s voice, the 
weeping child dried her tears. A new, glad look stole 
into her eyes. 

On the opposite wall hung a large, oil painting, repre- 
senting a young girl of about fifteen, habited in oriental 
court costume. The low corsage filled in with filmy lace 
ruffs, partially revealed the rich contour of maiden love- 
liness, in the fair throat and the creamy shoulders, that 
the artist’s colors had softened into an ideal beauty. 

Through the blush lips, just parted in a hushed word, 
gleamed the tiny pearls of teeth. Dimples played at 
hide and-seek upon the rounded cheek, creeping upward 
in their merriment, until caught in the smiling tenderness 
of dark brown eyes. 

A halo of golden curls surrounded the brilliant face, 
crowning it with a lustre as irresistible, as it was rare. 

The perspective to the painting presented a tangle of 
tropical foliage losing itself in a tinted glory of beaming 


PALM BRANCHES. 


13 


skies. A royal pavilion faded imperceptibly into the 
distance, while liveried grooms stood lazily upon the 
turf, checking the Arab horses, that were equipped in the 
bright trappings of a processional review. 

The child studied the picture with a pleased surprise. 
Then raising her hand, she pointed emphatically from it 
to herself, talking all the time, as rapidly as she could 
utter the words. At last she stopped abruptly, placed 
her hand upon her heart, and fixing her eyes upon Mrs. 
Russell, she exclaimed in English, 

“ Me !” and then smiled, and nodded at the portrait. 
“ This must be our Hugh’s wife.” Mr. Russell said in 
a half audible voice. Then to Mr. Langdon he said, 
“That is a picture of a beautiful girl, that our son 
intended to marry. But that was so long ago, that I had 
almost forgotten about it. Three years since the portrait 
came, and that is the last that we have ever heard from 
him.” 

“ Is it possible that our Hugh is drowned ?” he mut- 
tered to himself, while a great fear crept into his heart. 

The parlor door closed softly, and looking, around they 
saw Margaret as she disappeared into the hall, following 
the ladies up stairs. 


14 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“ She seemed to recognize the painting. She was de- 
lighted with it.” Mr. Langdon remarked. 

‘‘Yes, and she must have recognized my wife from 
Hugh’s resemblance. He was always the image of his 
mother. Did you notice how she started into excitement 
at the sound of the voice ?” 

“ Yes, I do not think there is any doubt about it. She 
resembles the portrait also, although she is very much 
changed since that was painted.” 

“ Oh ! yes, that terrible wreck in the sea. I shudder 
to think of it.” 

“ I hope Hugh may come !” 


IV. 



LMA, the child wife, sank gratefully to rest, among 


the downy pillows that Mrs. Russell heaped 
around her. Sleep would be so sweet; after a tedious 
journey. 

The room was like several others in the hotel ; large, 
and square, and furnished with heavily carved, dark wood 
furniture. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


15 


Upon the mantle piece, tall white candles tapered into 
a mild flame. 

An air of comfort and elegance pervaded the entire 
house. 

Gradually the storm without subsided ; and the morn- 
ing came like an enchanter’s wand. 

In Alma’s room there was a new voice. It was the 
voice of Hugh’s child. 

A daughter, and they called her Daisy, for she had her 
father’s blue eyes, and the winsome smile so like his. 
The mother’s shining locks wreathed aiound the pretty 
head, and Alma folded the child to her heart, and 
wondered if Hugh would come. 

A sunbeam glanced in like an arrow, piercing the glow 
of the room. 

And Alma slept, vvhile Daisy’s small hand wandered 
up to its mother’s face to find the warm cheek growing 
colder and whiter. 

She was too young, and too beautiful to die ! 

And she could not surely go, until Hugh came to her 
again ! 

But Daisy awakened alone, in the arms of the cold, 
beautiful sleeper : and the ocean shells chimed their weird 
music on the distant orient shores, while Alma the child 


i6 


PALM BRANCHES. 


who used to rock on their warm sea waves, at last lay 
hushed forever and still, with the sublime American 
hills surrounding her for a tomb. 


V. 

'Sy N June, the hotel began to fill with summer guests. 
^ The harbor was gay with small, canopied skiffs. 
Steamers ferried back and forth from the city, and an 
occasional ocean ship moored for a few hours, in the calm 
waters of the bay. 

The hotel was an old century building ; lofty and large. 
The high, inclined roof was green with patches of wood 
moss. 

The many window openings were large, but the glass 
was cut into small panes that took twenty to fill one sash. 
The dark green doors at the separate entrances were cut 
in two across the centre, the upper half standing open 
through the day. 

A thickly wooded grove offered a pleasant shade at 
one side of the house, and opposite it, a brilliant flower 


PALM BRANCHES. 


17 


garden led off to a sloping hill, where the low rocks were 
covered with wild berry vines. 

The hotel halls resounded with the merry voices of 
children. 

The infant Daisy grew prettier every day. 

When Mr. Langdon returned to England, Margaret, 
the lady’s maid, remained at Mrs. Russell’s to take care 
of the child. 

Margaret had served many years in the Langdon 
family, where Andrew was gardener. After the two were 
married, they often talked of going to America; and 
gladly theji^came, when the chance offered, bringing with 
them, their one boy George. 

Andy cultivated the gardens for the hotel, and George 
made himself useful as porter, lamp lighter and errand 
boy. 

At the parlor windows the long muslin curtains were 
drawn back, admitting the morning sunshine in bright, 
slanting rays of light. 

The floor was carpeted with a soft Persian plush that 
had been sent home by Hugh. The beautiful portrait of 
Alma smiled down from the opposite wall, brightening 
the room with its subtle glow. Gorgeous sea shells, and 


i8 


PA LM BRANCHES. 


curious Chinese knick knacks adorned the tables and 
corner brackets. 

A large, old fashioned mirror hung over the mantle 
piece, reflecting in its crystal depths the lovely forms of 
the ladies who assembled in the pleasant parlor after 
breakfast, with their bright zephyrs and canvas work. At 
ten o’clock the old woods rang with ladies’ voices, on their 
way down to the pretty inland cove, where they could 
take a dip in the ocean waves, and find themselves re- 
freshed. Then back through the woods again they 
would come, laughing, and treading out the sweet scent 
of shrubs and mosses with which the woodland path 
was turfed. 

Evenings, when parties of gentlemen would come 
out from the city, bringing an orchestra, the sounds of 
music would float out from the dancing hall, over the 
water, to ships that lay off at the silent mouth of the 
harbor. 

The weeks rolled by, filled with a quiet pleasure. 
Summer after summer, the same families came to Mr. 
Russell’s. 

It was such a lovely place ! There was a stretch of 
beach, down, facing the hotel, where golden shells lay 
bedded ankle deep, along the sands. A grand place for 


PALM- BLANCHES. 


19 


children to play all through the summer morning, before 
the tide came in too high. There never were such 
bright, prismatic colors as the sunlight struck from the 
burnished enamel of those small gold and silver sea shells. 


VI. 


ND still, no tidings came from Hugh. 



After the wreck, he had floated ashore on a 
broken spar. Many days he had wandered along the 
coast seeking tidings of Alma, but receiving none, he 
had at last concluded that she must have been lost ; and 
giving up all thought of returning home, he had again 
taken ship, and drifted eastward. 

Down through the Indian seas he drifted, until he 
anchored at a small island off Sumatra. There, he de- 
decided to remain until something should occur to draw 
him away, or to interest him elsewhere. 

He took his small boat, and went ashore. He found 
the island a garden of spices, and aromatic sweets. A 
few acres sloped off onto a hill, and on the hillsides 
grew a profusion of valuable coffee plants. 


20 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Near the shore of the island was a luxuriant grove of 
orange trees, whose shade was a welcome from the heat 
of the Indian summer, while its fruit in golden clusters 
mingled with the white flowers upon the graceful boughs. 

Tall banana palms grouped themselves at the summit 
of the hill, lading the air with their tropical, fruity 
bloom. Birds of Paradise fluttered through the groves, 
shaking showers of sunshine from the scintillations of 
their brilliant plumes. 

The lazy sea, in a hush of languorous repose, stretched 
its length in its ocean bed. An occasional sail dotted 
the blue distance. The island beach sparkled with tinted 
shells, and branches of pink coral that had been tossed 
there on the foam of some midnight wave. 

In the midst of the orange grove nestled a small 
temple, d he outside of the building was thickly inlaid 
with gold, and highly colored enamels. Scarlet and 
blue were the chief colors, but a tinge of green, white, 
and purple were blended into the illuminations to chasten 
the effect of the gorgeous, dazzling magnificence. 

The interior of the temple consisted of one spacious, 
circular apartment, lighted from the centre by an open 
dome, thirty feet in height. 

The white walls were tapestried with delicate traceries of 


PALM BRANCHES. 


21 


Indian, living vine, which spread its fibrous fingers cling- 
ingly over the surface, meeting in tremulous interlacings 
across the great, round aperture in the dome, through 
which the daylight sifted, in rays of varying green. 

In the centre of the marble floor stood a huge basin of 
scarlet porphyry, its flowing fountains ejecting a continual 
stream of perfumed waters ; while on the bosom of the 
limpid waves arose marble nereids whose pale forms 
seemed to palpitate. They gleamed through the trans- 
parent liquid as though they were victims that had been 
offered in sacrifice, and were now bathing in their own 
blood reflecte-i in the glow of the cold red porphyry. 

Forming a circle around the apartment, tall, cylindrical 
shafts of polished alabaster shot upward ; their surface 
carved in a graceful arabesque; their summits wreathed 
with crimson passion flowers, and anaglyphies tinted of 
every hue. 

Sweeping webs of Indian lace festooned themselves 
from various arches around the curving walls, revealing 
through their filmy folds rare glimpses of inner shrines 
that filled the niches in the wall. 

The door of the temple was flung wide open. Whether 
it had been left so by some Hindoo priest, or if the last 


22 


PALM BPANCHES. 


typhoon had swept over the island and forced its en- 
trance there, Hugh Russell could not determine. 

‘‘ This is a pretty nice sort of a place,” Hugh said to 
himself, as he stood gazing in through the temple door. 

It seems to be deserted ; so I guess I will go in and 
take possession, until some one comes.” 

Ho !” he called in a prolonged tone, Tbud enough to 
bring any one out, if he were hiding in any secret place. 
But no one appeared, either without or within, so Hugh 
stepped forward to enter. 

Suddenly, an enormous cobra that had coiled itself into 
a great black rug, just inside the temple door, now upon 
the first sight of Hugh, reared itself alertly, as if pre- 
pared to dispute a nearer advance. 

Somewhat startled, Hugh retreated a step or two, but 
finding De Capello in a peaceful mood, Hugh again 
advanced, that time armed with a stout orange stick. 

At a sign from the stick, the monster speedily quieted 
himself, and sank back to rest in tranquillity, occasionally 
favoring Hugh with a glance from his doleful eye, as he 
lay there broiling himself in a burning afternoon sun ray 
that had found its way to that one spot, as if for the 
reptile’s benefit. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


23 


Hugh roamed around the exquisite chapel lost in 
reverie and wonderment. 

At last he came to a magnificent sarcophagus of white 
marble, richly gilded with oriental symbols, and resting 
upon an altar of the same tintless, glistening stone. 

“ It may be the tomb of some Maharajah'"' In fact, 
Hugh knew enough of the Hindoo ideography to be able 
to read part of the inscription upon the jeweled case. 
Intuition also taught him, that so costly a tomb must have 
been designed in honor of some great chief. 

“This will do very well for me,” Hugh exclaimed 
aloud. 

“I will sleep here to-night, right on top of this marble 
couch. It may grow pretty cool towards morning 
though, so I guess I had better go out to my ship, and 
bring a blanket or two.” 

The fountains pattering in the porphyry basin kept up 
their soft murmur, and the afternoon sun commenced to 
grow fainter, as Hugh emerged from the temple, and 
took a grand look around. 

The orange grove seemed to have grown denser within 
the last hour, but its fruit still hung in golden clusters 
upon the bending boughs. 

“It is too late in the day to taste it,” Hugh sighed to 


24 


PALM BRANCHES. 


himself, turning reluctantly away from the temptmg 
succulents. 

Off on the hill top, the tall palm trees stood like 
watching sentinels, while Hugh’s ship lay moored in the 
harbor as close as it could come to the beach. 

His canoe still rested where he had drawn it up high 
on the shore, but around it had crept a score of crocodiles : 
some larger, and some smaller, each one anxious to 
inspect that new arrival, the canoe, that looked as it lay 
there on the sands, not unlike their own, long crocodile 
bodies. But they were mistaken if they thought they* 
had any right to inquire into the relationships of the 
occasion. Hugh, comprehending the situation at a 
glance, stooped down, and picked up a huge piece of 
coral shell, which he let fly into the midst of the croco- 
dile group. It happened to strike the leader in the eye ; 
and quickly deciding to withdraw, he discreetly crawled 
to the water’s edge, followed by the entire train of 
relatives of the alligator tribe. They all disappeared 
beneath the waves, without giving even a glance of 
curiosity behind. 

“That’s a good thing,” Hugh exclaimed in a con- 
gratulatory voice. “I don’t think they will trouble me 


PAL3f BI^ANCHES. 


25 


very soon again. If they do, I shall serve them in the 
same way.” 

And then he sprung into his freed canoe, and took a 
few quick strokes out into the water. 

In the near distance appeared the blue outlines of 
Sumatra. The golden skies drooped to the horizon with 
a tender glow, while the thin atmosphere seemed tinged 
with vitality, like an amber essence of transparent, ether 
life. 

This is delicious !” Hugh sighed, drawing a long 
respiration, 

“This place just suits me. I must go over to Sumatra 
some day, and find out who my island belongs to, for I 
must buy it, and live here. But I will wait a few days, 
and see what happens. May be I shall have an adventure 
of some kind. That will be fun enough,” and picking 
up his oars, he rowed on, to his boat. There he took a 
cinnamon cake, with a glass of maraschino for his sup- 
per ; then taking a Persian rug off from a lounge in his 
cabin, he reseated himself in his skiff, and rowed back 
to his island beach. 

That time, he felt very much at home, and stepped 
ashore, with a- profound sentiment of proprietorship. 
He had in his own mind made a purchase of the property. 


26 


PALM BRANCHES. 


and it belonged to him as certainly, as if it had really 
been conveyed to him, by a legal right of possession. 

The warm twilight still lingered upon the face of the 
island hill, but a dusky grey that seemed to be veiling 
the east, was a warning that night was not far away. 

I believe I will walk to the top of that hill for a 
view,” Hugh thought to himself. But then came a 
second thought, that it would be dangerous to go so far,, 
at that time in the evening, for he might encounter some 
chance band of wandering savages, concealed -up there 
among the coffee plants, and they might possibly object 
to his peaceable return to his chosen temple for the night., 

‘‘Perhaps it would be better though, to wait until to- 
morrow,” he said aloud, after his serious mental conflict. 
“And now, I must go, and look after De Capello.” 

But the monster had crawled off to his cave, for the 
night, and only the soft plash of the fountains gave indi- 
cation of any life, amid the silence of the marble hall. 

“Now I’ll have a good time,” Hugh exclaimed with 
satisfaction, as he mounted the oriental tomb. 

“I don’t believe any one is buried here at all,” he 
added, as a certain awe crept through his nerves. 

“ I guess it is only a table that has been put here for 
ornament; and this building is probably a refreshment 


FALM BLANCHES. 


27 


hall for the entertainment of visitors on the island.” 

Thus quieting his awakened senses, a deep rest over- 
came him. He looked up at the open dome, and through 
the wide ring, he spied the saintly skies, spreading their 
blue wings above him. Then they watched with starry 
eyes to shield him as he slept. 

The thick plush of the Persian rug formed a downy 
cushion to his couch^ 

Through the open doorway sifted the luscious odor of 
orange flowers, while a tropical midnight bird called to 
its mate to come to its feast in the, palm grove. 

Hugh had not been long asleep, when a new music 
stole through his dreams, unlocking the image of Alma, 
and bringing it forth to his yearning heart. 

He could see the light in her glad, brown eyes, while 
his hand clasped her soft palm ; and the sweet Persian 
vowels dropped from her laughing mouth, as she greeted 
him rapturously. 

Alma^ my bride, you were not drowned in the sea ! 
were you !” he cried in ecstasy; but the motion he made 
to clasp her more firmly awakened him from his dream. 

Near him was kneeling a singing bard, singing a love 
song to the fountain : and the jingle of his lute was the 
music that had awakened Hugh. 


28 


PALM BRANCHES. 


The tall, colossal pillars shone through the moonlight, 
like a circle of giants, while the song trembled upon the 
night air, with an echo of plaintive sadness. 

I thought I was at home again,” Hugh said to him- 
self. 

“ I thought I had Alma with me. It was only a dream ! 
I wish I could have prolonged it, forever.” Then re- 
turning to the reality, he exclaimed. 

Who in the world is that rascal of a man ! Why he 
is as lovesick, as a lunatic. I won’t speak to him though, 
unless he discovers me. Oh ! dear. I wouldn’t have 
lost this fun for anything.” 

Hugh had smothered his own dream, back into his 
heart ; and there, Alma’s laughing eyes were hidden 
again, as deep, as his deepest soul. 

A swarm of luminous fire flies had flown in through 
the arched doorway. The kiosk was illuminated by the 
zephyry flames of the brilliant insects, as they danced 
through the open space. 

A smile played over Hugh’s face, as he regarded the 
unknown minstrel. He dreaded to disturb the poetic 
effect of the scene. 

The bard sang on and on, one sweet song after another; 
until the hours grew shorter, and a rosy blush began to 


PALM BRANCHES. 


29 


dawn on the morning sky. Then, with a weary sigh, he 
gathered himself up, arose to depart, and dipping his 
hand into the waters of the porphyry basin, he gathered 
up a bunch of orange flowers, and bathed his face with 
the cool perfume. 

^‘The fellow’s sweetheart’s dead; and he thinks her 
spirit has entered into that fountain, and will remain 
there through the silent nights of a long, dreary year.” 
Hugh had gleaned that much from the songs that the 
bard had improvised. 

Having lived so many years in different countries in 
Asia, Hugh had learned to speak several of the dialects. 
He could also understand from the songs, that the min- 
strel was a talented man. Probably the prince, to whose 
family that temple belonged. 

He had repeated his requiem over and over, lament- 
ing the loss of his love as the blighting of some fair 
flower. Then he re-sang his praises of her languid 
beauty.- 

The fellow is evidently demented,” and as he left the 
temple, and turned off towards the hill, Hugh climbed 
down from his temporary perch, and followed him. 

“ I wonder where he is going now ; and what he will 
do next,” Hugh soliloquized as he tramped over the turfy 
ground above the beach. 


30 


PALM BRANCHES.- 


The sick boy marched steadily on, until he came to 
the foot of the hill, nearest the sea ; and then, he sud- 
denly disappeared as completely as if the earth had 
opened, and swallowed him. 

‘‘I am going to find out where he went to,” Hugh 
said decidedly, as he hastened to the spot where the 
figure was last seen ; and there, the hill made a sharp 
curve. Hugh found himself at the mouth of a small cave. 

A low moan echoed through the spaces of the ocean 
cell. 

Gracious ! he’s got it bad,” Hugh thought aloud. 

I must go in and cheer the poor fellow up.” 

He walked into the cavern about ten steps. There sat 
the boy on the shelly floor, rocking back and forth, as 
he uttered his piteous cry. In his arms he was holding 
the dead body of his love. 

It was embalmed, and swathed in cloth of gold. The 
voice of the sea came puffing through the air, with a 
subdued entreaty, as if it rejoiced to think that Hugh 
had come to comfort the Indian lover, and to teach him 
to forgive his desolation. 

The boy sat facing the rocky wall, with his back 
towards the ocean view, and the sound of his own solemn 
moaning had prevented his hearing Hugh’s footsteps. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


31 


until quite close beside him, Hugh stood. When at last he 
looked up, a great peace seemed suddenly to envelope him. 

That lovely being ! so fair, so every way gentle in ap- 
pearafice ! no wonder that the Indian boy mistook him 
for a deity. 

“Allah!” he exclaimed in a musical cadence, while 
the same quiet peace kept breaking over him, with a 
shine around his face almost of glory. 

“ I am a child of Allah 1” Hugh replied in Hindoo, 
readily appreciating the situation, and willing to indulge 
the boy prince in his pleasant illusion. 

“My Father has sent me to comfort you with His 
glory sign. Come, and behold what He has placed in the 
heavens for you.” 

Gently, the prince laid his love on a shelf in the cave, 
and Hugh led him out to the sea beach, and showed him 
the gorgeous sunrise. 

“ Now, Allah walks upon the waves,” Hugh said, with 
his hand uplifted towards the radiant sea. 

“Those long gleams of golden light are the trailings 
of His robes. He is so near us, that He watches us, 
wherever we may be.” 

“ But Allah has whipped me, until I cannot love Him 
any more,” exclaimed the boy, returning to the remem- 


32 


FALM BRANCHES, 


brance of his sorrow. ‘‘He has taken from me, my 
love: and now, I am alone. No parents, no friends.” 

The old look of despair seemed settling again upon 
him, but Hugh smiled cheerily, and answered in a "hearty 
tone, 

“ I have come to live with you ! See ! yonder, in the 
harbor is my boat. Allah gave it to me. He gives us 
all things good. Come, and we will take a sail in the 
beautiful boat. This early morning air will refresh you.” 

The Indian kept drawing back, but Hugh diverted his 
attention. They walked a step at a time, until they 
reached the canoe, which was turned downward with its 
face to the sands, lest any more of those intrusive croco- 
diles should return to it for a resting place during the 
night. 

Floating out in the harbor in a pretty skiff has a better 
effect on any one’s spirits, than can be produced by -the 
darksome twilight of a dismal cave ; and before they had 
reached the large boat, Hugh had the satisfaction of see- 
ing a happier expression return to the young Indian’s face. 

When they went aboard, they found everything just as 
Hugh had left it, the evening before. 

A white awning, with a fluttering scarlet fringe covered 
the deck, like a canopy. • 


f 


PALM BRANCHES. 


33 


The refreshment table stood there in the open air. 
Two. or three cool linen couches were grouped about the 
deck, welcoming the guests to rest themselves in their 
luxurious repose. 

“This is yours!” Hugh said emphatically, as he 
pressed the prince down onto one of the divans. 

“Now, you must breakfast. See, here are mango,, 
spiced oranges, hot coffee, and sea biscuit.” 

Hugh was his own sailor, cook, waiter, and governor. 
A very independent gentleman. He had prepared his 
coffee the evening before, and while talking to the prince^ 
he had lighted the alcohol in the lamp of the urn. In a 
moment the fragrant essence was reduced to a rich, amber 
liquid, ready to bring relief to all abstracted thoughts. 

“ It is weeks since I have tasted coffee,” the Indian 
said, as he drained the delicate cup, with a decided relish. 

“I won’t let him go ashore again to-night,” Hugh 
thought, as he saw the cheerfulness dawning in the young 
face. Then, he set him to work managing the sails. He 
taught him how to run the ship, and hOw to anchor it. 

They coasted around the island all day, taking care to 
avoid the point were the cave was ; and when night came, 
they drifted into a small cove at the farthest extremity of 


34 


FALAf BRANCHES. 


the land, where they anchored for the night, among a 
tangle of blooming, tropical plants. 

The prince did not mention the idea of returning to 
the temple, but seemed very well pleased to remain 
where Hugh had brought him. 

“This is pretty good luck for me,” Hugh thought. 

“ The fellow says he hasn’t any friends or relatives. I 
shall entertain him a few days, and keep him amused 
here in my boat, and then I shall go into partnership with 
him, in that coffee plantation of his. We can hire plenty 
of natives to work it for us* I can open a warehouse 
for it over at Sumatra, and exchange with the European 
and American markets by ship trade.” 

While such a train of reasoning was going on, Hugh 
was by no means, silent or idle. He brought out from 
his cabin, two Persian nargiles, which he filled, with a 
soft, Turkish narcotine. 

They had rolled the awning back from above them, 
and then, the broad blue skies were their only canopy, 
while the_golden stars seemed to hang so low, that they 
might have plucked them, by the uplifting of a hand. 

Swinging there, in a Persian hammock, smoking a 
jeweled pipe, were luxuries that the young native had 
almost forgotten how to enjoy. But he was captivated 


FALAf BRANCHES, 


•35 


by Hugh. The white face was such a marvel ! and the 
polished manners were so congenial ! Hugh’s disposition 
was so buoyant and happy, too : no wonder that the sad 
lover yielded to such consolation, and suffered himself to 
be amused. 

After a time, the nargile was smoked out, announcing 
the prince to be asleep. 

‘^'Ihe exercise to-day has. done him good.” Hugh* 
gave a sigh of relief, for he had been dreading the mid- 
night, lest the prince should return to his mania of the 
dark hours. 

And then, Hugh went on dreaming his new dream, 
about the possession of the island ; little thinking that 
Alma had been saved from the sea, and that he could 
find his own Daisy by going to his old home on the 
Connecticut shore. 


VII. 


% 


EAR after year passed away. 

Daisy had grown to be a'handsome girl of fifteen, 
and had gone to the city to pay a visit at Judge Mitchell’s. 


36 


FALM B/^AiVCHES. 


It was the first time the child had ever been away from 
home. The perpetual motion of winter life in the city, 
was all new to her. But while she was completely ab- 
sorbed in a sort of delighted wonderment, her own 
beautiful face was creating for itself, an admiration. 
Afternoons, when Mrs. Mitchell drove out to the Park, 
hundreds of heads turned to look at the lovely girl in her 
carriage. Evenings, at the opera, her box was sur- 
rounded by young gallants, each one anxious to receive 
a word from Daisy. She was too young, to go to recep- 
tions, but there was enjoyment enough, simply with being 
in company with Mrs. Mitchell, and Annie, and Lilia. 
Her visit with them, was like a most delightful dream, 
and the winter passed only too rapidly away. 

. The Mitchell family had been in the habit of spending 
their summers at Mr. Russell’s hotel at- the- sea shore. 
Every summer, they had been there, for twenty years. It 
was like home to them. They had known all about 
Daisy, the first year of her life. Annie and Lilia 
Mitchell were infants of five and three, at that time; and 
Daisy had grown up with them, and had been as dearly 
loved by them, as a dear sister might have been. 

One evening, soon after Daisy had arrived at Judge 
Mitchell’s, the ladies were seated in the quiet library. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


37 


Mrs. Mitchell was reading, but that did not prevent the 
chatter, chatter of the merry group around her. 

A bright fire burned on the hearth, and a blaze of gas 
streamed from a drop burner on a side table. The bor- 
ders of the room were shadowed by tall, dark book cases. 

Suddenly, the hall door opened quietly, and in walked 
Mr. Carrington. He was Mrs. Mitchell’s brother. 

“Uncle Edward,” Annie was the first to exclaim : and 
looking up, Daisy saw a dark, stern face gazing at her, 
with a surprised, criticising expression. 

She nestled uneasily in her chair, and a ball of bright 
zephyr rolled out of her lap across the room. 

“ This is the little girl from the country, is it?” Mr. 

^ Carrington said sarcastically, as he rescued the rolling 
ball, and tossed it back to Daisy. 

Before any one could reply, 

“Where is the Judge?” he rapidly inquired, looking 
at Mrs. Mitchell. m 

“ He dined this evening, with Judge Thayer. But he 
will be at home soon, now.” 

The clock over the fire, chimed nine. 

“I will see him at the Court House to-morrow,” Mr. 
Carrington answered hurriedly. “I have not time to wait 
for him now,” with which last word, he abruptly left the 


38 


PALM BRANCHES. 


room. In another moment, the front door shut with a 
heavy slam, and they knew he had departed. 

Mrs. Mitchell unmoved, resumed her reading. Annie 
and Lilia kept up their happy prattling. Not a thought 
was given to their eccentric uncle. He was always in a 
hurry. Quick, and nervous, he had gone through life. 
Always successful as a lawyer, doubling the enormous 
property, which his father had bequeathed to him. 

No one noticed that Daisy was silent. She was cro- 
cheting a scarlet strip for Annie’s afghan, which was to 
be a Christmas present for that same harsh, wicked look- 
ing Uncle Edward. * Daisy was trying to forget the 
strange scowl which he had bestowed upon her. And^ 
after an hour, she succeeded. The library was such a 
pleasant room. Mrs. Mitchell was so kind, and motherly; 
and Annie and Lilia were so bright and cheery. No one 
could be unhappy with them ! The dark, cruel face was . 
banished from Daisy’s miiKl. She had forgotten it as 
entirely, as if it had never been. 


PALM BRANCHES, 


39 


VIII. 



FTER Mr. Carrington had . hastily left Judge 


Mitchell’s, he stood a moment on the outer steps. 


A sharp, fine sleet was drizzling, but he heeded it not. 

His horses pawed at the curb stone, arousing him to 
consciousness. 

“ Drive on,” he called peremptorily to his man. * 

Up one street, and down another, the carriage tore, 
through the pattering storm of hail and snow. 

“To the Club,” Mr. Carrington again ordered. And 
in a few moments they drew. up, at one of those magnifi- 
cent city club houses. The halls were temptingly deco- 
rated, and a brilliant evening light shed its glow through 
the long vistas of opening rooms. Paintings and statuary 
adorned the walls. Satin couches were grouped at in- 
tervals through the spaces. Crystal chandeliers drooped 
from the frescoed ceilings. Velvet carpets hushed the 
tread, with rose leaves that lay uncrushed. 

Statesmen and politicians were debating the coming 
elections. Wealthy aristocrats lounged around the billiard 


40 


PALM BRANCHES. 


tables. Slippered waiters noiselessly passed through the 
rooms, bearing great trays of glasses, filled with sparkling 
wines. A delicate aroma of supper insinuated itself 
through the atmosphere, above the odors of violet and 
tuberose. 

It was near midnight, when Mr. Carrington finished his , 
interview with a party of leading autocrats, and the gen- 
tlemen dispersed for their own homes. 

“Did you notice how strangely Carrington acted to- 
night?” the gentlemen said to each other, in separating 
at*fhe door of the club house. 

“I wonder what ailed him.” 

They might wonder at it indeed. The subject of their 
curiosity wondered at it himself. It followed him home. 
The invisible something ! It stared at him in the dark. 
The bright, sweet face, with its circlet of golden curls. 
He had never seen such another. He was angry with 
himself for allowing it to pursue him. 

“Pshaw !” he said. “She is only a child.” 


PALM BRANCHES. 


41 


IX. 

OR once, Edward Carrington was afraid of him- 
^ self. 

He carefully avoided his sister’s house, until Christmas 
time. That day at dinner, Daisy was very much sur- 
prised at finding herself seated next to that dark, cruel 
looking man. He did not notice her, but she imagined 
that his face was not so severe as it had appeared to her 
at first. Then too, he was so large, that she felt like a 
mere mite beside him. Her head did not more than 
come to his elbow. When she unfolded her napkin, a 
small white box dropped out. Annie and Lilia clapped 
their hands, saying, 

“ Daisy has one like ours, from Uncle Edward.” 

A small locket, crusted thickly over, with diamonds. 

What could she say ? If she attempted to speak and 
thank him, he took no heed of her. 

The afghan pleased him. Annie told him, that Daisy 
had worked one stripe. ' He made no reply to that, but 
folded it up, and carried it off with him. 

After that, nearly every day in driving through the 


42 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Park, a pair of prancing bays would rapidly dash by their 
carriage, and Mr. Carrington would lean forward, salute 
the ladies, and be out of sight. 

Evenings, in leaving the opera, he would also meet 
them, and escort them to their carriage. 

At times when they would not see him for two of three 
days, Daisy unconsciously began to miss him, and look 
for him. 

At last, it was towards spring. The winter had indeed 
melted away, with surprising rapidity. 

Daisy would soon be going home. She was only wait- 
ing for Lilia’s birthday party, the invitations for which 
had been given out several days before. The young 
ladies were in a grand excitement about their dresses. 
What should each one wear ! Up stairs, the sofas and 
chairs were piled high with the beautiful litter. Gauzy 
tissues and delicate crepes had converted the robing 
rooms into a gay bazaar. 

Green house flowers were twisted into delicate wreaths 
for the mirror panels. The entire house wore a festal 
appearance. 

The hour at last arrived, when the guests began to 
come. Lilia stood beside her mother, ready to receive. 

Soft waxlights glowed from the chandeliers. 

Delicious music pulsated through the rooms. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


43 


Lovely ladies floated through the mazes of the dance. 

In the excitement and hurry, Daisy was for a moment, 
forgotten. She was sitting alone, absorbed in watching 
the dancers. The house was so beautifully decorated, 
and the guests were all so amiable and graceful. To 
Daisy, the scene was fairylike ! 

After a time, she became conscious of some one stand- 
ing beside her, and a voice for which she had learned to 
listen, was inviting her to dance. She could hardly be- 
lieve her senses, but there he stood, glowering at her with 
a dark frown. 

She wondered- at herself for not beings frightened. 

A great calm seemed soothing over her. She looked 
into his face, while a new brightness flooded through the 
grand drawing room. 

“ This waltz ?” she said. 

“Yes.” 

And then she felt herself lifted into eternity. She 
seemed to be floating on azure clouds. 

The orchestra throbbed out its most entrancing Strauss. 

Mr. Carrington waltzed divinely ! Who would have 
thought that that silent, forbidding looking man could 
waltz ! 

Daisy was so exquisitely fair, so every way beautiful, 


44 


PALM BRANCHES. 


that the city stranger ladies envied her. They looked 
mockingly sideways at her. 

“That is the little country girl, that we have heard 
about,” they said to each other scornfully. And several 
youths who had glared savagely at each other all winter 
in a vain jealousy over Daisy, began to shake their heads, 
and to utter insinuations, that she was too pretty to be 
good. 

Of all those evil omens around her, Daisy was for a 
time, innocently unconscious. 

She had her waltz with Mr. Carrington. After that, 
it seemed right to her, that she should walk with him into 
the conservatory.* They rested for a moment, beneath 
the boughs of an enormous tropical tree. They were 
alone. All the rest of the company were either dancing, 
or at supper. 

A pale, white lantern swung from an exotic branch 
over their heads. Daisy looked very lovely by the light 
of that calm moonlike blaze. Then Mr. Carrington was 
standing so near to her. There was a new, strange mag- 
netism in the atmosphere. It glided between the two, 
with an irresistible attraction. Daisy swayed. She was 
dizzy. Mr. Carrington’s arm passed around her, and 
then, without one thought of the proprieties of the oc- 
casion, the two melted into one kiss. 


PALM BRANCHES, 


45 


To Mr. Carrington, it was so strange, so new, so sweet 
to have such a beautiful child for a moment all to himself! 
He clasped her as if he would keep her forever. 

Daisy was bewildered with the strange faintness which 
had overcome her so suddenly. But they kissed as 
naturally, as if they had been born to kiss each other. 

After a time, steps and voices were heard approaching 
from the drawing room. Daisy withdrew from his arms, 
and fled precipitately off, by herself. 

Perhaps it was not the wisest thing she could have 
done, but she felt such a sense of guilty innocence, she 
wished to flee away and hide herself. 

She felt like Eve in Paradise, and she longed to escape 
from the curious gaze of the strangers that thronged the 
halls. But there was no place to go. The whole house 
was given up to the company. 

In her blindness she ran against Mrs. Mitchell. That 
awakened her from her rapture. There was his proud 
sister. She might be indignant at the simple country 
maiden 1 Daisy must disguise her emotion, and affect a 
simple pleasure, at the birthday party. Poor child. She 
had not father or mother, and the most that she knew of 
the world was from her bible, and her own pure intuition. 

She came out of her trance, as one who had been 
stunned by a sudden blow. 


46 


PALM BRANCHES. 


‘‘Are you having a nice time, Daisy?” were the first 
words that greeted her. They fell pleasantly on her ear, 
coming as they did, from his sister. 

“ Yes, thanks. — It is a lovely party,” she replied, sum- 
moning a ghost of a smile to her face. 

“Well, you must enjoy it. Here comes Mr. Thayer 
to engage you to dance with him, I know.” 

While Mrs. Mitchell was speaking, the youth made his 
best bow, and offered his arm to Daisy. 

It was then, that she first became aware of the derisive 
looks of the company around her. She felt that every 
one was ridiculing her. She heard several remarks about 
the little country girl, and she felt convinced with a 
shudder, that they were talking about her. 

The youths who had been so eager all winter, for a 
word from her, now treated her with marked neglect. 
The ladies glanced at her contemptuously. What had 
she done that should cause. them to behave in such a way 
towards her ! 

She was angry with them all. She experienced a deso- 
late sense of being unprotected. She regretted that she 
was there among such a crowd of people who had sud- 
denly become so disagreeable to her. 

Very glad was Daisy, when she witnessed the last 
group of guests depart. 


FAL3f BRANCHES. 


47 


She ascended the long, broad stairway, with the ladies 
of the house. 

Lilia and Annie talked a few moments about the party. 
Each one repeated the compliments she had received. 
Daisy was silent, for she had not forgotten her indigna- 
tion towards the strangers. She feared too, that she 
might betray her secret, if she spoke. At last she was 
startled into animation by Lilia’s exclaiming, 

“And Daisy, I saw you waltzing with Uncle Edward. 
Is he not a splendid dancer ?” 

“Yes,” Daisy replied demurely. “ I never would have 
thought that he could dance. He is always so different 

from other gentlemen. Until to-night, he has always 

/ 

been so silent : so indifferent about such gayeties.” 

“Oh! He used to be the gayest beau in the city. 
Was he not. Mamma?” Lilia said laughingly. 

But Mrs. Mitchell was busy in her own room, making 
her toilet for the night, and she did not hear the prattle 
of her children. 

“Yes, I have heard mother say, he would have married 
once, but the lady that he courted was a flirt, and he has 
never cared for society since.” 

“Was that Miss Cameron?” Lilia said with a sleepy 


yawn. 


48 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“Yes,” Annie answered, as she unclasped her necklace 
and laid it on its velvet cushion. 

“Well, she has never married yet, and I do believe 
she has always liked Uncle Edward. Maybe he will 
marry her, yet.” 

“ Ah ! no. He is too old.” The two girls rattled on, 
forgetting that Daisy was listening. A wretched anguish 
enshrouded her. A consuming blush burned upon her 
face. She turned her head to the wall, lest even the 
dressing maid might look at her. 

She said to herself, 

“Could Mr. Carrington have been so wicked to have 
treated me in that way to-night in the conservatory, when 
in his heart, he was caring for some other one ?” 

She drew back the curtain from the closed window. 

The maid had turned the gas down to a dim speck. 
Annie and Lilia were asleep in the adjoining rooms. 

Daisy knelt by the great window pane, and’ looked 
down into the empty street. There, all was quiet. A 
row of chimney tops was shadowed against the opposite 
houses, and a white streak of moonlight silvered the mid- 
air. Above, the heavens were brilliant with a grand 
display of stars. A glowing moon shone over the sleep- 
ing city. 


FALAf BRANCHES. 


49 


Long time Daisy regarded the beautiful skies above 
her. Their solemn steadfastness comforted her. All 
sorrow vanished, beneath their calm shining. 

A clock in a neighboring steeple chimed the hour. 

“O, Moon, my Moon !” she said. “ You are too high 
and too bright for me.” 

As she turned away from the window, a great gasp 
came chokingly into her throat. She strangled, but she 
would not weep. Her hot, tropical blood surged in a 
quick torrent through her veins. She clenched her small 
hands in a voiceless anguish. 

The calm was again dissolved. 

“ Heart, you must not cry for the moon,” she kept 
repeating to herself, as she slowly paced the space by the 
window, choking back her passionate gasps. 

“It is too high for me, oh f me.” 

What a lovely wraith she was ! speaking softly to her- 
self, lest she should awaken the sleepers through the house. 
She dreaded to lose herself in sleep for fear that she 
might speak his name in dreams, and some one might be 
near, awake to listen. 

Her long, white robes floated dreamily around her. 
The white light from the outer night shone down through 


[* 4 .] 


50 


FALAf BRANCHES. 


the drawn curtain in a broad slant, like a stream of 
tissueless silver. It sifted around Daisy in a gloria^ trans- 
figuring her in her fairness into the semblance of an illu- 
minated wraith. 

“ To-morrow, Margaret will come for me,” the lovely 
child said softly to herself. It was a consolation to her, 
that she could escape to her country home. 


T he following morning, when they were all at 
breakfast, in walked Mr. Carrington. 

He came in quietly, without his usual haste, and took 
a chair at the table, beside Daisy. He did not appear 
to notice her, however. He talked for several minutes 
with Judge Mitchell, upon subjects of recent legislation. 

Daisy looked at Lilia, and giving a significant nod, the 
two girls laughingly spoke to Mrs. Mitchell and arose, to 
leave the room. 

‘‘Daisy,” Mr. Carrington called after her. She re- 
membered afterwards, Chat it was the first time he had 
ever addressed her by her name. 


FALM^ BFANCHES. 


‘‘Yes,” she answered, stopping a moment in the 
doorway. ' 

“I was wondering if you would like to take a drive 
with me in the Park, this afternoon.” 

Still, he did not turn his head to look at her. 

“Oh ! no, thanks,” she replied, masking her face with 
a smile. “ I have not time. I have to pack.” 

“Pack? what for?” he said hurriedly, now looking 
at her in a thorough surprise. 

“ I am going home,” she answered coldly, and turned 
away with Lilia, down the broad, bright morning hall. 

“ Excuse me,” Mr. Carrington said sarcastically, as he 
smoothed his tone into a conventional iciness. 

“ I did not know that she was going so soon,” he next 
said to Mrs. Mitchell, and then rising hurriedly, 

“ I must make haste down town,” he said, “ or I shall 
be late in the day.” 

“She is a vain, foolish child!” he angrily exclaimed 
to himself, as he slammed the door of his carriage. “ I 
would not have thought, that she could be so wicked.” 

The lines on his face hardened, and hardened. A 
deep scowl, such as he wore the first time that Daisy saw 
him, now came again across his brow. By the time he 
reached down town, he looked ten years older. 


52 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“I will never see her again,” he said angrily, as he 
settled himself down among his papers and tried to dis- 
miss the beautiful face from his memory. But it was t jo 
sweet ! Every few moments it would return, and then 
he would expel it, with another pang^ 

When night came on, he yielded to his impulse of 
loneliness. 

“ I will go there, and make a call, and see how they 
all are this evening,” he said. 

Arrived at Judge Mitchell’s, he found them all at home, 
but Daisy was gone. 

Her woman came for her this morning, and she 
hurried off this afternoon. We could not keep her any 
longer. I think she must have been homesick,” Mrs. 
Mitchell said, in explanation of Daisy’s absence; adding 
sincerely, 

“ She is a lovely girl, and we all love her dearly.” 

How he blessed his sister for those few words of appro- 
bation : although he might never hope to see the child 
again 


PALM BRANCHES, 


53 


XL 

AISY watched the city with its magnificent dock 
yards, and beautiful suburbs disappear. She gave 
a sigh of relief, as the country fields came into view, and 
the flying villages spun by the car windows, as though 
they were winding out of a reel. Nearer home, the 
scene grew more familiar. The old evergreen hills seemed 
to welcome her again to their borders. Now and then, 
she caught brief glimpses of the sea, and the pure salt 
came puffing through the air. 

‘‘This is the best life for me,” Daisy said eagerly, as 
she opened her lips, and drank in the fragrant air. 

The old white hotel too, had on its ancient, lofty 
glower, and Daisy felt herself well pleased to be at home 
again, and stowed away in her quiet little room up stairs. 

i 

The Mitchells had already written to Mr. Russell say- 
ing they would come again that year to pass the heated 
months. And so, for the next few weeks, Mrs. Russell 
was busy, superintending all the arrangements of the 
hotel. There was not much to be done, but more or 
less excitement was prevalent through the house. 


54 


PALM BRANCHES, 


Rooms had to be opened and aired. The housemaids 
carried their heads with an important air, as if it would 
not do to offend them at present; while through the 
halls and apartments a grieved atmosphere of dust was 
dimly apparent, beneath the cleansing process of hot 
soap and water mixtures. 

At last, all was ready. The house had resumed its 
tranquillity, and settled down into the perfect order of 
peace. 

The valley smiled at its own beauty, while June in her 
festive Joral dress again greeted the ardent sun with an 
ecstasy all revealed. 

Afar in the distant view, the rounding hill tops peered 
sublimely into the mysteries of sky-lit worlds. Great 
mantles of woodland verdure hung in ample folds around 
the mountain sides, and stretched in waves of bird voice 
melody to their strong, trackless feet. 

Near the house, the shady grove was spiced with birch, 
and evergreen. 

Down the shore road the long line of trees had put on 
a fresh coat of tender, leafy green. 

The sea waves came breaking through the harbor, 
striking the tinted beach with a pleasant splash. 

Sunlight flooded the rosy heavens with radiance, and 


PALM BRANCHES. 


55 


a fleecy cloud floated dreamily upon the azure, as the 
hand of a maiden might shield her soul from the vision 
too dazzling of her love. 

The Mitchells were expected by the evening steamer. 
They were to bring their horses and carriages. 

Mr. Carrington was coming to escort them. 

Daisy was in a flutter of anxiety. 

Will he like it here ? I hope so,” she kept repeating 
to herself. ^He has never been here before.” 

Daisy was down at the pier to meet them when they 
arrived. She rapturously greeted Mrs. Mitchell, Annie, 
and Lilia, but when she turned towards Mr. Carrington, 
her heart stood still. Upon his arm leaned a lady. A 
tall, beautiful woman whom Mr. Carrington presented to 
Daisy, as “Miss Cameron.” — 

Miss Cameron scarcely deigned to notice Daisy, but 
exclaimed contemptuously, 

“ Oh ! Is this the place.” 

Miss Kate has been quite ill all the way up,” Lilia said 
apologetically : and then the party moved on. 

“ Who all are here ?” Annie inquired. 

“The Parkers, and Belmonts came yesterday, and 
Judge Thayer’s family will be here next week.” 

“ Yes, Amy Thayer came to see us yesterday, and she 
told us they were coming,” Lilia said. 


56 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“I am glad the Parkers and the Belmonts are here ! 
Won’t we have a lovely time. Oh ! dear. How sweet 
and lovely it is here. And how beautiful the harbor 
looks this evening, with that bright sunset upon it !” 
Annie exclaimed delightedly, as the party stopped for a 
moment on the porch of the hotel, and looked in each 
direction ; off at the cool grove ; then down the valley 
road ; up at the long chain of green hills, stretching 
through the distance, and out at the gli^ning harbor 
that was lively with clam and lobster boats, and fisher- 
men coming in from hauling their seines. 

Mr. Russell ushered the guests into the house, and Mrs. 
Russell hurried out into the sacred culinary precincts to 
make sure that the delicious, hot supper was properly 
prepared. 

Come into the garden, and see how pretty it is out 
here,” Daisy called, leading the way through the house. 

A vista of summer bloom shone in through the open 
door at the further end of the hall. Vine clad bowers : 
bushes of roses ; white and scarlet cherry trees in blossom ; 
with an amphitheatre beyond, of bright green hills. 

The picturesque old garden nestled snugly before them, 
among its surrounding bushes and cedar trees. 

June roses trailing everywhere ; white, and crimson, 


PALM BRANCHES. 


57 


blush pink and double yellow ones. Delightfully old 
fashioned the drooping bushes looked, with their gorgeous, 
'velvety flowers hanging, in thick clusters upon them; 
while deep little beds of the silky rose leaves lay sprinkled 
on the green turf beneath the bending boughs. 

Daisy did not dare glance at Mr. Carrington, for his 
head was turned away from her, regarding the panoramic 
scene which surrounded them. 

“ Now isn’t it lovely, here. Uncle Edward ! We told 
you it would be,” Lilia exclaimed in a voice of delight. 

“Oh ! dear. Let us go to our ’rooms,” Miss Cameron 
drawled in a tone of exceeding ennui. 

Daisy was extremely disconcerted by the presence of 
Miss Cameron. She could not appear at her ease. She 
followed Mrs. Mitchell up stairs. 

“Our same old rooms, Daisy,” Mrs. Mitchell asked 
pleasantly. 

“Yes. I hope everything will please you, Mrs. 
Mitchell,” Daisy answered, with a sad attempt at a smile. 
She threw the window blinds on each side of the rooms, 
wider open, letting in beautiful views of the harbor and 
of the sea side grove. 

How crisp, and bright, and fresh the rooms did look ! 

“It is lovely to be here again, Daisy,” Mrs. Mitchell 


58 


PALM BRANCHES. 


said, as she seated herself on the side of the white, 
dimity bed, and opening her traveling bag commenced 
to draw out numerous bottles of Cologne, and other 
articles pertaining to the feminine toilette. 

“You must dress for tea, children,” she next suggested, 
as Annie and Lilia came into her room, after waiting 
upon Miss Cameron up stairs. 

“We are all as hungry as bears, Daisy,” Lilia ex- 
claimed with a laugh. 

“ This salt air is a positive inspiration to languishing 
appetites,” Annie added, by way of apology, 

“That is a good tonic, I am sure,” Daisy said. “ We 
like to have you hungry, for then you will relish your 
supper, which will be ready in a few minutes : by the 
time you get down stairs.” 

“ Oh ! dear. Hear that old clock. It sounds just like 
it always did,” Lilia said, as Daisy opened the door. 

The tall music clock below in the keeping room was 
playing a lively tune, at the same time striking six. 
Above the dial, a silver moon was' climbing with the 
rotund face of its mythical inhabitant visible on the 
circling orb. That clock was a marvel to all the children 
in the hotel. They were astonished that the moon could 
revolve within so small a space. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


59 


After supper, how delightful it was to stroll along the 
hard, dry sandy beach ! Then after they were weary 
of that, the open balcony, — the broad, deep porch was 
very pleasant. The evening was warm, and' the moon- 
light shone over the water, in long, sparkling rays of 
dimpling liquid. 

The forest shadows on the hillsides grew darker, and 
then a musical cry came from a hidden mountain brook, 
as it chattered to the crickets on its banks. 

The prattle of childish voices came floating down 
through the windows from the rooms overhead, and the 
patter of childish footsteps. The soft voices of the nurses 
as they hushed the little ones to slumber with an infant 
lullaby. 

“Those children are late to-night in going to sleep,” 
Mrs. Parker observed to Mrs. Belmont with maternal 
solicitude. 

When midnight arrived, the musical clock sang its 
tune, and soon the hotel was at rest. The sleeping world 
was bathed in an aether flood of white moonlight. The 
froglings in the rivulet croaked to their mates a long 
story about their escape from the hunters in the forest, 
during the past day. And the sleepless nightbirds 
awakened the echoes in the shadowy grove. 


6o 


PALM BRANCHES. 


XII. 

ISS Cameron was a proud, haughty woman. 
But her wealth could not save her from being 
called disagreeable. 

In her youth, she had been betrothed to Mr. Carrington, 
but owing to her own vanity and capriciousness, she had 
lest him. Since that time, she had traveled over the 
world in many directions, lavishing her money upon her- 
self, but she was spoiled. Nothing pleased; nothing 
satisfied her. 

She was past thirty, when she heard of Daisy being in 
the city at Mrs. Mitchell’s. She was told of the child’s 
wondrous beauty, and she had seen her at a distance, in 
driving, and at the opera. 

Miss Cameron knew that her own beauty had long 
since faded, but yet she was jealous of the preeminence. 
She had through all those years loved Edward Carrington, 
as sincerely as she was capable of loving any one besides 
herself. 

In the spring, after Daisy’s return to the country. Miss 
Cameron commenced a succession of calls upon Mrs. 



PALM BRANCHES. 6i 


Mitchell. She endeavored to make herself very agreeable, 
and finished, by asking permission to accompany the 
family to the sea side. 

Mr. Carrington was to accompany the ladies, and that 
was sufficient. 

Miss Cameron determined to go. 

When Mr. Carrington was if?formed that Miss Cameron 
was to make one of the party, he did not experience the 
slightest emotion, either of regret, or of pleasure. She 
was to him, as if she never had been. An Egyptian 
sealed in her tomb three thousand years before, could 
not have been more dead. ^ 

‘‘You know I can only stay a day or two, at a time,’^ 
Mr. Carrington said to his sister, “but I shall come as 
often as I can get away. Every week, on Saturday, 
perhaps.” 

So it transpired, that Miss Cameron went to Daisy’s 
home to spy out all her ways, and to squelch her upon 
every possible occasion which might offer. 

'When' Mr. Carrington learned that Miss Cameron’s 
going, was a fait accompli^ he decided to treat her with 
the same scrupulous politeness which he would show to 
any lady traveling alone, who might force herself upon 
his attention. And thus it was, that Daisy found her 


62 


PALM BRANCHES. , 


leaning upon Mr. Carrington’s arm in leaving the steamer. 
She did not understand the circumstances. She remem- 
bered what Annie and Lilia had thoughtlessly said, that 
night of the birthday party; and the thought flashed 
through her mind, 

“They are engaged again. How beautiful she is. Of 
course he could not help loving her !” 

Then the same old gasps came into her throat. But 
daylight, and the necessity of self control preserved her. 
She disregarded Miss Cameron’s hauteur. 

“It is right, that his wife should be a queen !” the 
pretty Daisy thought as she kept choking back the 
smothered sobs, and hiding herself behind the kindness 
of Mrs. Mitchell, and the friendship of Annie and Lilia. 


XIII. 


summer night at the great ocean shore, was a 
sacred, joyous, dreamful gladness. Great ghost 
shadows stretched out over the hillsides, while a melting, 
silvery, liquid moonlight deluged the intervening spaces, 
with a flood of aether gloaming. The harbor glistened 
in the moonlight, as a bed of melting diamonds would 
shine in the blaze of the noonday sun. 


PALM BRANCHES, 


63 


Thirsting with her own thoughts, Daisy could not sleep. 
It was not quite midnight when she knelt beside her open 
lattice, and peered wistfully out into the fragrant, dark- 
some blue. The deepening valley waved off into the 
mystic night shades. Myriad stars shone out in golden 
gleamings from their distant azure heights. The sea had 
a pleasant- moan in its midnight fretting. 

The beauteous night was very calm in its saintly silence. 
The soft bleating of a hungry lamb caught below, in the 
tangled bushes ; the silvery tinkle of a calfling’s bell as it 
sought the maternal dew ; the startled call of the dream- 
ing thrush as it awakened to find its mate ; the chirp of 
an eager linnet singing a midnight carol ; the soft slow 
swash of the sea waves breaking upon the harbor beach : 
Daisy heard from her upper casement, while her ear 
caught a thousand tuneful harmonies that throbbed 
through the pulsing stillness. 

^‘Dark, darling face ! How could you leave me so?” 
she sighed weariedly to herself in choking another of 
those miserable sobs. 

The night voices answered her : the hungry lamb be- 
low in the thicket, and the wakened birds from their 
swinging nests. She listened to their sweet cries, and 
wished .she could wing to them. 


64 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“I wish I had a bird that could carry a message for 
me,”‘ she thought, as the shining moon sailed nearer to 
her, and gazed at her, as if surprised to find her awake 
at that time of night. 

The brilliant glare of the white moon sleepened her. 
She strove to keep awake, but her eyelids grew heavy 
and heavier. Somnus was bending over her, sprinkling 
her with his white poppy leaves. 

The dark face, the lamb, and the birds melted into one 
dream : and the round white moon looked down at the 
sleeping Daisy with her head bowed low on her arms that 
were clasped over the open window sill. Once or twice 
during the night she partially awakened in her dreams for 
her head nestled restlessly ; but when the night was past, 
and she raised her fair face to the morning light, a new 
dawn was breaking through the flushed orient. The sea 
was tinged with the scarlet dye, and a sparkling haze 
hung* over the valley. 

The musical clock below was sounding the matinal 
hour. The eager little birds were circling around her 
window, and sailing off on the waves of air, twittering 
their morning songs, and then flying into the widening 
atmosphere, as though they would catch the notes that 
dissolved with their utterance, into the transparent light. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


6S 


The morning sun dazzled her with its fierce, warm 
glow. She retreated hastily into her room to finish her 
toilette for breakfast. 

Mr. Carrington went fishing all day. 

He also remained at the harbor a second day, but 
Daisy kept close to Lilia. 

When they went down onto the beach to liunt for 
pretty shells and sea mosses, Daisy showed them where 
they could find the prettiest. 

The delicious salt air did Miss Cameron good. 

From the faded, unhappy woman of the world, she 
really looked young again. Her Parisian ioilettes were 
eiquisite specimens of taste, and Daisy was quite be- 
wildered by Miss Cameron’s magnificence. 

When Mr. Carrington discovered that it would be 
impossible for him to speak a word with Daisy, the place 
lost its attraction for him. Daisy continued to treat him 
with the most distant politeness, wnich was more cutting 
than positive rudeness would have been. 

I shall have to' return to the city to-morrow,” he said 
to his sister in parting at night : — “ and I may not return 
here this summer. Have you any message for the J udge ?’ ’ 

[* 5 ] 


V 


66 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“ Tell him we are all well, and that he must come to 
see us as soon^as he can get away. 

“ I suppose you find it dull here,” she added. 

“ But it will be more lively next week. The Thayers 
will all be here.” 

Mrs. Mitchell wondered at her brother’s sudden change 
of plan, when he had at first intended coming every week. 

After breakfast. Miss Cameron, Annie and Lilia walked 
down to the landing to see Mr, Carrington off, but Daisy 
had disappeared : she could not be found at that time. 

The boat steamed out of the harbor, waved off by a 
fluttering of feminine handkerchiefs. 

On its return trip, it brought a large box of bon tons 
and a package of the latest novels from Mr. Carrington 
to Miss Cameron, and his two nieces. Not a word of 
allusion was made to Daisy : and every few days there 
was a package of some kind received by the same ladies 
in indication of Mr. Carrington’s remembrance. That ' 
did not surprise Daisy in the least. All that she won- 
dered at, was the fact that he did not come oftener to see 
his lady love. 

Eight weeks since he went away, and he has not been 
here since !” Daisy said aloud, as she was communing 
with herself at five o’clock in the morning. It was sunny 
and bright, but a cool breeze came from the ocean. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


67- 


Daisy had risen early, fo,r a walk along the beach to 
hfer beloved rocks. She had clambered over the rough, 
sharp, jagged mass of boulders, until she had reached 
the outermost point that led out into the sea. 

She wanted to be alone, with the infinite creation 
around her. 

There, she could not fear any intrusion. All in the 
hotel were asleep. The great tide was rolling in, and 
dashing its spray at her feet. A flock of shy sea birds 
perched a little way off on a ledge of the glistening 
granite : eyed her a moment, and then took flight. 

“ Nonsense ! Why do 1 think of him?” Daisy next 
exclaimed, giving herself a decided shake. Her eyes 
were fixed afar off, watching the inrolling waves. 

“ But I wish I could see him, even if he do belong to 
another — Just for a moment. O but it would make me 
weep to have him so cold and so cruel to me !” 

She was silent a few moments, and then the sweet, soft 
voice spoke again, while the wistful fa^ away look 
changed to one of triumph. 

“ Now, I can be married, if I choose,” — it said. 

“Ned rhayer wants me. ^.He proposes to me, upon 
•ad possible and* impossible occasions. 1'hey would take 
me abroad ; I could live grandly in the city. I could 


68 


PALM BRANCHES. 


have velvets and diamonds, and everything magnificent, 

“I could keep a carriage, and I could dress as elegantly 
as Miss Cameron. 

“ I wonder if He would care ! I wonder if He has 
forgotten ! 

“O Father! O Mother I Why did you not live for 
your baby girl Daisy? Oh I my. — Oh ! my. — What shall 
I do ?” 

A torrent of passion had swept over Daisy with all the 
violence of one of her own native typhoons. She had 
thrown her face downwards on the jagged breast of the 
rock, and in her anguish she bewailed her fate. 

The tears that had been so long controlled, at last re- 
fused obedience. They scorched her face, as they meited 
off onto the rock. The great soul sobs shook her. 

Hours flew by, and yet Daisy could not calm her 
ecstasy of grief. When she spoke, her very voice 
sounded pained, and unnatural. Her curls were dis- 
engaged, and tumbled in a golden mass around her. 

The mild salt breeze blew over her, cooling the fever 
in her veins. At last the flush died out of her face. She 
arose wearily, and with a farewell look at the sea, started 
for her walk back to the hotel. 

She had no idea wi.at time in the day, it was. Neither 


PALM BRANCHES. 


69 


did she imagine how lovely she was looking. She had 
conquered her emotion for that once, and that was all 
that she cared to do. 

As she approached the hotel, she saw all the gentlemen 
sitting out on the porch reading the morning papers which 
the cars had brought, and indulging in the most seductive 
of all enjoyments, — their after breakfast cigars. 

Before any one could see her, Daisy cut through the 
grove, and entered the house by a side door. 

The ladies were all in the parlor, crocheting and em- 
broidering various pretty articles. 

Miss Cameron sat at the piano thrumming one air after 
another, occasionally humming a few words of a song. 

The ladies were laughing and talking with each other. 
A pleasant murmur of voices rang through the room. 

As Daisy entered the parlor, Lilia Mitchell and Amy 
Thayer came forward to meet her. 

‘‘ Where have you been all the morning, Daisy?” they 
both said. But before Daisy could answer them, a 
shrill whistle from the steamboat landing announced the 
morning boat to have arrived from the city. 

Immediately, there was a flocking to the windows of 
fair heads and dark Several of the ladies went out to 
the balcony, and the gentlemen strolled by twos and 


70 


PALM BRANCHES. 


threes down to the pier to see who had arrived, and to 
get the morning mail. 

“There’s Uncle Edward!” Lilia Mitchell exclaimed 
as she saw Mr. Carrington leaving the steamer. “ And 
Father is with him. O, good I” 

As Judge Mitchell and Mr. Carrington approached the 
group of ladies awaiting to receive them, a buzz of soft 
feminine cries greeted them. 

Mr. Carrington’s gaze glanced over their heads. The 
one he sought was not there. 

“ Where is the little Daisy I am looking for?” he 
exclaimed to himself bitterly. “ She surely must hear 
our arrival ! Why is she not here to receive us — 

“ It may be true,, what Lilia wrote me ; that she is in 
love with Ned Thayer, and that she intends to marry 
him. I will soon know when I see her, if she can change 
while I am away.” ■ 

A strangely stern look came into his face. It was the 
old, dark, cynical frown which had so frightened Daisy. 

He hardly glanced at Miss Cameron, hurrying away 
from her, with a chilling recognition. But that young 
lady was not at all discouraged. 

“He treats me without any formality,” she thought. 
“ I am glad that he is familiar enough to pass me by, as 


PALM BRANCHES, 


71 


if he acknowledged me as belonging to himself. Now, I 
must give him a good chance to propose to me this time. 
I hope he will do it soon. — I quite long to be Mrs. 
Carrington. 

“I am glad that simpering, foolish Daisy is out of the 
way. She took herself off speedily, as soon as we saw 
Mr. Carrington coming. I think I have trained her 
pretty well this summer. She will know enough to keep 
away from us, after this. That’s one good thing.” 

If Mr. Carrington desired to see the little Daisy, she 
could not make up her mind to see him, until after sev- 
eral hours. 

Then, they met as nervously, as two such excitable 
beings might expect to meet. The crowd around them 
looking on, could not see the hot lava tide which was 
boiling beneath that cold, crusty surface. No one 
imagined that there was any emotion surging beneath the 
calm exterior with which the elegant man of the world 
greeted the little country maiden in her own home. 


72 


PALM BRANCHES, 


XIV. 

f L floated out from the ball room on the 

#1% evening air. 

Beautiful ladies in bewildering toilettes promenaded 
through the changing dance. 

An arbor of oleander trees graced one end of the long 
hall, and there Daisy was resting, waiting for Mr. Thayer 
to bring her some ice cream. 

The evening was about half over. Daisy was vexed. 
She gave her pearl fan a nervous shake, as she gazed 
some distance across the room. 

The dancers whirled past her. 

“He is angry at me,” she was saying to herself. 

“He does not approach me. 

“ He does not even look at me, when I meet him in the 
dance.” She frowned, in an absent way. 

“ How mysterions he looks,” she repeated, 

“ How wild, and savage his dark face looks, as he leans 
against those climbing vines on the balcony. 

He has been standing there now, the past hour. He 


PALM BRANCHES. 


73 


is looking straight in at me. I don’t see why he doesn’t 
come and talk to me !” 

As Daisy met Mr. Carrington’s wistful eyes, she nodded 
with a smile tocher own thoughts, not dreaming that he 
would appropriate her action as a recognition, for she 
was only talking to herself as she sat alone, in the bower 
beneath the oleander blossoms. 

He is coming, I do believe,” she cried to herself in 
dismay. “ What shall I do ?” 

There was no need for her to run away, that time. Her 
transparent face betrayed her emotion. Mr. Carrington 
in looking at her, could easily read the sudden terror that 
his approach had occasioned. 

With a sudden dip of his head, he passed her hur- 
riedly, and appeared to be searching for some one be- 
yond, in the room. 

Where did this lovely mignonette come from, I won- 
der !” Daisy exclaimed as she recovered from her surprise. 
A handful of the delicate sprays lay tossed in her lap, 
and as many more lay in a heap at her feet. 

‘‘ Could Mr. Carrington have thrown them here as he 
passed?” A little thrill of gratified vanity was suddenly 
checked by a shower of the flowers from over her head. 
She looked up, in time to discover a hanging basket that 


74 


PALM P RANCHES. 


had unfastened one side of its chain, and the contents 
were dripping in a small shower bath upon her. 

“Ha! I had forgotten that basket,” she said, in a 
tone that tried to cover her chagrin. 

“ I will fix it for you,” a deep voice said ; and then a 
black coat sleeve reached up, and the link was clasped 
onto its hook. It did not take a moment, and yet to 
Daisy, it seemed hours. He did not speak again, and 
Daisy was all atremble. She was in a mild rage. 

“Mr. Carrington does not expect me to thank him; 
he has only readjusted the basket, the same as he would 
have done for any other lady,” she indignantly thought 
in her silent way. 

“Oh I Excuse me,” Mr. Carrington said. And then 
with a mocking smile he stepped back, and made way for 
Mr. Thayer who had just arrived with the ice cream. 

“ What makes him act so?” poor Daisy thought. 

“ It seems as if we were never to be friends again.” 

“ I am afraid you thought I was never coming back 
again Daisy,” Mr. Thayer was saying, “ but I hurried as 
fast as I could. This is a romantic little bower, is it not ? 
with these blooming plants all around us.’^ 

“ Yes, very pretty,” she replied, while her sweet, sober 
face looked anything but happy. 


FALM BRANCHES. 


75 


What makes her so sad, I wonder. I do wish she 
would be jolly,” he looked at her intently. 

The two were wrapped, each, in a separate dream. 

‘‘I wish we were out of this crowd,” Mr. Thayer was 
thinking. “I do believe if I were to propose to her 
now, she would not refuse me. How lovely she looks t 
So pale, and pensive,” he raved like a lover, and a most 
conceited one. 

“We never will be friends again,” the sanie refrain 
was ringing in Daisy’s brain for the hundredth time. Her 
mouth quivered nervously, and feeling wretchedly hysteri- 
cal, she said as calmly as she could, 

“I cannot take this cream, Mr. Thayer.” 

The pallor deepened on her cheek. She arose to leave 
him. She was weary of the glaring lights in the dancing 
hall. She longed for the lonely quiet of her own room. 
She felt desperately disappointed, and yet she had not 
hoped. 

“Are you ill, Daisy?” Mr. Thayer asked anxiously. 

“ No, only tired.” 

“ Here is your fan,” he picked it up from where it had 
fallen among the flowers at her feet. 

“I shall keep this mignonette,” she said in a half 
reverie, as she gathered the small twigs m both her hands. 


76 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Will you !” a deep voice breathed close, above her. 
She looked around quickly. Mr. Carrington had just 
swung by, in a waltz. He was talking earnestly, to Miss 
Cameron. 

“Well, I will keep them, any way. They are such 
sweet little things. 1 will keep them to remember to- 
night: and the swinging basket overhead, that might 
have fallen and crushed me.” 

The sweet mignonette had a mission to fulfill. In 
looking at the tender blossoms, and in inhaling their 
subtle odor, Daisy’s heart revived. 

“The world is very fair,” she said. 

“ Maybe something good will happen for me yet.” 


XV. 

^1^ HE faint blush tint of early dawn was flushing the 
^ eastern sky, as Daisy half opened her eyes, startled 
from sleep by the clatter of horses galloping off with a 
dozen hunters, for the woods. 

“ ^He giveth His beloved sleep,’ ” she murmured. 
“Oh! dear, I must go to sleep again.” 


PALM BRANCHES, 


77 


With a sigh, she doubled the pillow up under her 
head, and the next instant she was sinking into her sea of 
dreams, while the steps of the retreating horses grew 
softer and more distant, until only the songs of the morn- 
ing birds thrilled the air with their warbling ecstasy. 

“Five o’clock,” Mr. Carrington said, looking at hi& 
watch; “ George, how far did you say it was to the 
Sparrow Woods?” 

“Only three miles. Sir. And the birds are so thick 
there, that you can just reach out, and pick them off the 
trees.” 

“ Are you sure there will be much game at this season 
of the year?” 

“ Yes, sir. There is very little shooting in this part of 
the country, excepting what I do myself, for the hotel 
table.” 

“Three hours, and then she will be at breakfast. I 
hope she will think of me,” Mr. Carrington thought. 

“ Mr. Carrington,” one of the young fellows from the 
city called, in a voice of breathless laughter. 

“ Ned Thayer has forgotten his gun.” 

“ He must be desperately in love, to come for a hunt, 
and forget what he is going to shoot with,” a chorus of 
voices cried out. 


78 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“ Well, we will make him work to pay him for it,” Mr. 
Carrington said, smoothing away a frown. “We will 
leave him to guard the camp to-day, and he will have to 
cook all we kill.” 

“I’ll go back after it,” Mr. Thayer said, as he turned 
his horse’s head around. But Mr. Carrington dashed 
across his flank, and leaning over, grasped his bridle with 
one hand. 

“ Look here old fellow, if you get back there, you’ll 
forget to -come away again: so we’re not going to let 
you go.” 

Contradictory to the laughing drawl, there was a calm 
glitter of determination in Mr. Carrington’s eye, that 
speedily induced Mr. Thayer to change his mind, and 
continue with the hunters for the remainder of the day. 

“Now, here we are at the Sparrow Woods,” Mr. 
Thayer exclaimed in hearty pleasure, as the party rode 
into the shade of the pleasant thicket. 

“I remember coming here when I was a boy. There 
used to be an eagle’s nest here. Yes, it is here yet. See 
that huge old bird soaring around above the tree tops ? 
And there’s no end of wild berries growing on those 
bushes there. Oh ! it used to be lovely here.” 

“It is lovely enough now,” each one thought. The 


PALM BRANCHES. 


79 


grove widened around them, into an endless succession of 
forest aisles, down, which the freshly risen sun was shining 
throi gh a tender radiance of leafy green. 

“This is just the spot for our encampment.” 

Through the grand, turfy grove flowed a cooling stream 
whose gurgling waters sparkled as brightly, as though 
filtered through polished sands. 

“George, there are trout in this brook ar’n’t there?” 

“ Yes, Sir. This is the same stream that winds round 
and round among these hills; in here and out by the 
hotel, and over again by the village. 

“I brought some fish hooks with me, Sir. If any of 
the gentlemen would like to fish?” 

“There, Thayer, is just the work for you, and it will 
amuse you all day,” Mr. Carrington said, as George pro- 
duced his hooks and lines, and contrived a pole out of a 
long, narrow branch of a tree. 

“That is exactly what I like to do,” Mr. Thayer 
answered good naturedly. “ I will stay here and see if 
I can catch some fish, while all the rest of you take the 
trouble to do the hunting.” 

“Good bye, old fellow; — we’ll be back at noon.” 
With rifles over their shoulders, the hunters departed in 
various directions. Through the morning, an occasional 
firing was heard through the woods. 


8o 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Mr. Thayer took up his position as angler, upon a 
large, smooth rock sunk to its surface in the waves of the 
fretting rivulet. Soon^ the rock was converted into a 
table for the reception of the speckled treasures. At noon, 
George kindled a fire, and stretched a white damask on 
the smooth lawn under the trees. Then he spread out a 
dainty collation, which he had brought from the hotel, 
and prepared for the return of the, hunters. 

George was Margaret’s son. He had come for the 
day, to wait upon the gentlemen, and to act as guide to 
the hunting grounds. 

When the luncheon was over, some few of the hunters 
stopped to smoke their inevitable cigars, as they lounged 
in delicious reverie upon the banks of the forest rivulet. 

Not far from Mr. Thayer’s large rock, the stream was 
spanned by a picturesque little rustic bridge, from which 
the opposite bank sloped down to a Broad, green meadow 
land where a flock of white, fleecy lambs were feeding, 
or partly sleeping, steeped in the cool grasses in the 
shade of the forest border. 

Mr. Carrington among the smokers, leaned com- 
fortably up against a large tree root. He had pulled out 
his pocket sketch book, and was vividly penciling the 
meadow scene that stretched beyond the brook. 

‘‘This is for Daisy,” he mused as he drew. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


8i 


‘‘I must say, that’s good.” He pulled out his cigar, 
and puffed a circle of small rings that ascended, and dis- 
solved into the clear atmosphere. 

“ But it is not quite finished yet,” he said. 

“ I must put a few more lambs into that valley mead. 

“I wonder if she will like it ! 

“ I treated her pretty badly last night. 

Maybe though, she didn’t notice it.” 

The exercise in the cheerful out door air had had a 
wonderful effect, in clearing away the clouds from Mr. 
Carrington’s mind. 

“There; that is finished, and it’s perfectly splendid!” 

The last sentence he spoke aloud, holding the sketch 
in different lights, while he gazed upon it, affectionately. 

“Let us see it, Mr. Carrington,” a number of voices 
exclaimed. 

Without answering them, he coolly folded his drawing 
between the leaves of the book, and put it into his side 
coat pocket : the left side too ; the region wherein the 
principal vital organ is said to beat. The reason he 
could not exhibit the picture was easily explained. 

The artist had drawn two graceful figures upon the 
narrow, rustic bridge. They were not walking in oppo- 


82 


PALM BRANCHES. 


site directions from each other, with an utter indifference 
in their manner such as strangers would assume, — but 
were leaning over a moss grown rail gazing at their faces 
reflected below, in the stream. The two were in such 
suspicious juxtaposition to each other, as would lead one 
to suppose them to be friends of the kindest intentions 
towards one another. 

Of course that was all very innocent and simple, and 
it was only a malignant mind that could suppose other- 
wise. But the artist had a sensitive consciousness of 
guilt, arising from the quiet pleasure that the mere sketch 
had given him. 

“That is sacred,” he said mentally. 

“ It looks like Daisy, and it actually is a good likeness 
of both of us. 

“I wonder if it won’t make her laugh.” 

His left hand lingered over the' outside of his coat to 
make sure that the small volume was safe, and then rising 
alertly, he called out, 

“ Come on. Let’s go shoot some more birds, or we 
won’t have many to show to the ladies to-night. 

“Keep on fishing, Thayer. We’ll carry your trophies 
back, too.” 

With a number of trills and roulades, the hunters com- 


PALM BRANCHES. 


83 


menced a merry whistling, as they started off for their 
afternoon sport. But after straying deeper and deeper 
into the fragrant woods, the throbbing silence cast its 
spell upon them : the ringing whistle ceased, and the 
thoughts became tinged with harmonic peace, as each soul 
pulsed in unison with the wild woods’ rapt sublimity. 

It was very pleasant wandering all day through those 
forest paths. 

It was such a grove where one would expect to catch 
fairy wood n) inphs dancing to their shadows. 

The air was laden with the sweet scents ot pine, and 
wild fruits. 

A dry branch was breaking with a crackle, beneath a 
ruthless foot. 

A squirrel bounded shyly, among the distant trees. 

A rifle shot ascended into the air, to bring, down a 
pretty robin on the wing. 

Mr. Carrii.gton had thrown his gun aside. He would 
rather sketch than shoot, at any time. He had j)lumed 
his pencil for its mark, and was looking for a place to 
rest, where he could catch that quivering glow which 
shone down through the long, green vista that opened 
into the winding distance. 

When the mellow sunset proclaimed the flight of day, 


84 


PALM BRANCHES. 


the hunters stopped iheir firing, and all resorted to the 
encampment, where they prepared to return to the hotel. 
They had had a merry day of it, — wandering like school 
boys through the bosky woods. 

Soon, fair Diana the huntress appeared with her silver 
bow, upon the heavenly field. Purely she floated through 
the aether above the tree tops, lighting the country road 
with her white shining. 

When the riders arrived at the hotel, the ladies were 
grouped upon the balcony, awaiting them. 

They dashed noisily up, throwing their reins to the 
grooms who stood ready to receive them. 

“ Well ! You’ve really come,” was the first salutation 
from numerous impatient mammas and sisters. 

“Yes, we’ve had a splendid time ! Look at the birds 
we’ve brought home to you.” 

The hunters displayed their strings of game. 

All of the ladies were present, excepting Daisy. That 
afternoon in the parlor, she had heard Miss Cameron re- 
mark to Mrs. Mitchell that Mr. Carrington was going to 
take her out rowing after tea. 

It was not true. Miss Cameron did not trouble her- 
self about the truth. She intended to have Mr. Carring- 
ton take her, and she wished to have Daisy understand it. 


FALAf BRANCHES. 


85 


When the ring of their horses’ steps sounded far away 
down the road, Daisy had been the first to hear it. But 
she did not care to see any one. When Lilia Mitchell and 
Amy Thayer followed the other ladies out to meet the 
belated sportsmen, Daisy fled away in a. strange terror, 
to be by herself. 

Mr. Thayer saw at a glance that Daisy was not there. 
He dropped his line of fish on the terrace, and hurried 
to greet his mother and Amy. Then, in advance of the 
others, he hastened into the house. The parlor was 
empty. He strode through the lower hall and disap- 
peared on the landing above. 

Miss Cameron rushed up to speak to Mr. Carrington, 
with her most innocent and artless manner. She over- 
whelmed him with her persuasive little raptures of delight. 
But he was certainly ungrateful. He did not appreciate 
her advances. Her efforts were of no avail. It was too 
late to go to row. 

Mr. Thayer returned to the porch hoping to find Daisy 
among the party. 

He commenced telling about a. fort, somewhere down 
the harbor where he used to go when a boy. He finished, 
by saying, . 

It is a romantic old place. — Why couldn’t we make 
an excursion to it, to morrow?” 


86 


PALM BRANCHES. 


A chorus of voices hailed the idea with delight. 

“We can go either in carriages, or by boat,” Mr. 
Thayer suggested. 

“Or horseback,” Amy Thayer said. 

“Lilia, go and find Daisy, and tell her about the ex- 
cursion to-morrow, and tell her I shall expect her to go 
with you, and me,” Mr. Carrington whispered, apart 
from the others. 

“ Oh ! Uncle Edward,” Lilia exclaimed, clasping her 
hands in delight, as she hurried away to find Daisy That 
pretty, golden haired maiden, — the pretty Daisy, — was 
astonished. 


XVI. 

^ ^ wonder how he came to invite me !” Daisy kept 
repeating to herself after Lilia had left her. 

“I wish he would take Miss Cameron, instead of me. 
She would be much better company for him than I would. 
My! Won’t she be angry 1 Maybe we’ll all go together 
though.” 

Daisy came down in the morning, a little late. Mr. 
Carrington and Mr. Thayer had had their breakfast, and 
gone. ^ 


PALM BRANCHES, 


87 


“ Edward went to see about the horses,” Mrs. Mitchell 
said. “ He thought Francis would not have them ready 
in time, unless he/hurried him.” 

“ We have to start pretty early, do we not?” Daisy 
inquired in an undecided voice, for she was seriously con- 
templating the possibility of escape. 

Opposite, sat Miss Cameron, in an exquisitely embroid- 
ered robe, all ready for the day. She was looking so 
handsome, so every way lovely, that Daisy thought again^ 

^‘Oh ! Why does he not take her?” 

“ No, not very early,” Mrs. Mitchell was saying, “ any 
time after nine o’clock.” 

“ Ned takes quite a party in his yacht. Miss Cameron,, 
you go with him, do you not?” Mrs. Thayer inquired. 

“Yes,” Miss Cameron answered dryly, as if she did 
not relish the fact. Then, with increasing avidity, she 
applied herself to her morning repast. 

“ I wish I didn’t have to go,” Daisy said in an under- 
tone to Mrs. Mitchell. 

“ Why Child, how foolishly you talk. 

“I should not go one step, without you.” 

“ Well then, I wish I could go in your carriage with 
you, Mrs. Mitchell,” Daisy said entreatingly. 

“ There is no room for you. Mrs. Thayer and I are 


88 


PALM BRANCHES. 


going to take the two youngest children with us, and the 
others will come, in the pony phaeton.” 

Miss Cameron’s sharp ears had been straining across 
the table, trying to hear what Daisy and Mrs. Mitchell 
were talking about. 

As Daisy left the room, Mrs. Mitchell called after her, 

“ You will have to be a little faster than usual, Daisy, 
if you expect to be ready in time.” 

Miss Cameron was disappointed. She knew that she 
looked superbly in her dark cloth riding habit. She was 
regarded as the finest equestrienne in the city park. And 
then, — to have to go in Mr. Thayer’s yacht. 

Just as the horses were brought around to the steps of 
the terrace, and the other ladies were putting on their 
hats, Mr. Thayer met Daisy on the stairs, on the way to 
her room. He said to her, 

“Mr. Carrington is going away to-morrow, Daisy. 
Back to the city.” 

Miss Cameron in the hall below, heard what he said, 
and tossed her head in a vain triumph. 

The rapid color faded from Daisy’s cheek. 

Without stopping to consider, 

“How long will he be gone?” she asked hurriedly. 

“He is never coming back again,” Mr. Thayer re- 


PALM BRANCHES, 


89 


plied. “ Here he is himself! He will tell you all about 
it. I was just telling Daisy, that you were going away 
to-morrow.” 

Mr. Carrington came walking through the lower hall, 
thinking he had better look for Daisy, and find if she in- 
tended to go with him, or not. 

*‘Oh! that is nothing,” he answered Mr. Thayer in- 
differently : and quietly turning to Daisy, he inquired, 

“Come. Are you ready?” 

“ I will be, in a minute,” she answered. 

“Now, I shall never see him again,” she was thinking 
to herself. 

“ Well, I might have known it would be so. 

“Oh I dear. I shall never get dressed. 

“ Margaret !” she called into the next room at the top 
of her voice. “ Come right away, and help. me.” 

“ Why Miss Daisy, what are you weeping for?” 

“ I don’t know Margaret, only I feel very sorry. Give 
me that bottle of Cologne. 

“ There ! How do I look*?” 

Margaret had shaken out a fresh silk handkerchief, and 
Daisy had staunched her tears. But there was still, a 
suspicious quivering about her face, and tears threatened 
to rise again, at any n\oment. She felt intuitively. 


90 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“ It would never do in the world, to have them see 
that I am such a goose. What am I weeping for? — I 
should like to know.” — Then, 

“Here Margaret,” she said, “this blue silk is all 
raveled at the edge. I will keep it to tie around my 
throat, if we should stay until evening. It may be cool, 
riding along the sea shore after dark. You may give me 
that white one, with the pretty red border. I will carry 
that. It is a pretty handkerchief,” Daisy said with a sigh. 

“This is it. Miss Daisy,” Margaret handed it to her 
out of the velvet case. 

“Now, you look perfectly beautiful, Miss ! 

“You will be the must bemtiful one uf the party, 
to-day.” 

“I am afraid others won’t think so,” Daisy thought. 
Then cheering up, she said with a laugh, 

“Well, good bye Margaret. Don’t get lonesome.” 

“I hope that handsome Mr. Carrington is going to 
take her, to day,” Margaret exclaimed to herself, as she 
went to the window, to watch the party leave. “They 
look so elegantly together. I never saw such a handsome 
couple.” Margaret adroitly repeated the sentiment of 
every other person, when she expressed herself in that 
regard. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


91 


The hall door was standing open, and Marie, Miss 
Cameron’s French maid, walked in, to keep Margaret 
company, and to have a little -talk about the excursionists 
as they departed. 

Marie talked very good English. 

“ Miss Cameron is going with Mr. Thayer. Isn’t she?’^ 
the maid said, as she craned her neck over the window 
sill. 

‘*Did you see my Miss Daisy !” Margaret inquired in 
a proud tone. 

“Yes, she looked beautiful, didn’t she, as she sailed 
through the hall, carrying her train over her arm ! 

“ It’s no wonder all the gentlemen fall so dead in love 
with her. 

“Now if she was cross and hateful, like my Miss 
Cameron. — 

“ Oh ! Margaret, you haven’t an idea, how Miss Cam- 
eron can scold. My gracious ! she almost killed me this 
morning, with her scoldings.” 

“ Miss Daisy is an angel,” Margaret said decidedly. 

“ Do not tell what I have said, will you, Margaret,” 
Marie entreated in a sudden fear. “I should lose my 
place, and I haven’t any home to go to.” 

“ Hear her now, talking to Mr. Carrington,” Margaret 
said indignantly. 


92 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Can’t she be satisfied with her own escort, without 
flirting with my Miss Daisy’s gentleman, — I should like to 
know?” 

“ Mr. Carrington, you promised to bring your porte 
folio of sketches for me to see, to-day,” Miss Cameron 
was whining coaxingly. 

‘ ‘ Now you must get them, and I will carry them in 
the boat, and we will enjoy them so much after we get 
to the woods. 

Do, please : won’t* you, Mr. Carrington?” 

‘‘There is nothing much to see,” he laughed. 

“ Only a few small sketches, that I have taken about 
here.” 

“O, yes. Do bring your porte folio, Mr. Carrington,” 
a number of voices cried out. 

He vanished into the house, and when he returned, 
with the volume in his hand. Miss Cameron reached for 
it. He glanced at Daisy, and quietly gave it to Mrs. 
Mitchell. 

“Don’t let any one see this, until we reach the fort,” 
he said to his sister : “ and then I will take care of it. 

“Go ahead Francis,” Mr. Carrington called to the 
coachman. 

Mrs. Mitchell’s carriage led the advance, followed by 


PALM BRANCHES. 


93 


the Thayer phaeton filled with children. Then the eques- 
trians, in a laughing, light hearted procession, cantered 
down the sea shore road. 

“ Let the others go first,’' Daisy whispered to Mr. 
Carrington, as he lifted her into the saddle. 

He made no answer, and Daisy supposed he had not 
heard her. But as the others filed past her, she raised 
her eyes from his face, and encountered a sneer from 
Miss Cameron. 

Mr. Thayer too, was studying her with a scornful ex- 
pression. He shrugged his shoulders in disdain, and 
started down the beach for his yacht. 

“ O, dear. I am in a dreadful trouble,” — poor Daisy 
mourned. 

I wish I had not consented to come to-day.” Her 
horse shied and pranced, recalling her to her senses in 
curbing the mettlesome creature. 

“Give me the lines,” Mr. Carrington said, reaching 
over and taking possession of Daisy’s reins. 

“I will lead him a little way. He is gentle enough 
after he once gets started. Now Lilia, don’t frighten 
him with your whip.” 

It was a lovely, bright morning. The road wound 
along by the sea. Mr. Thayer’s yacht looked like a large 
white bird, skimming the sunny waves. 


94 


PALM BRANCHES. 


After awhile, the carriage road diverged from the 
shore, to climb a hill; in consequence of which, the boat 
was the first to reach the fort. 

Mr. Carrington. Mr. Carrington,” Miss Cameron 
whined as the riders came slowly into the open space of 
the fort. 

“There is Miss Cameron calling to you, Mr. Carring- 
ton,” Daisy said. 

“ I am coming. Miss Katie,” he answered, lifting his 
hat to the Gypsey sibyl who was beckoning him to her 
side. After that, he took no more notice of Daisy, ex- 
cepting to lift her down from her horse. She went with 
Lilia across the grounds to join Mrs. Mitchell and the 
other ladies. 

“ And this is one of the old Connecticut forts !” Amy 
Thayer exclaimed, with a thrill of patriotism in her voice. 
“ How beautiful it is !” 

The greeai earthworks were built up, twenty feet high, 
enclosing a circular space of several acres of plateau, in 
the center. 

Great pyramidal heaps of cannon balls were staked at 
intervals around the enclosure. And underneath the 
earthmounds, was a narrow, brick walled secret passage, 
which the American soldiers defended with their lives, 
in a hand to hand fight, over an hundred years ago. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


95 


XVII. 

B eyond the fort, on the incline of a hill, the 
old foiest century trees cast their stately shadows 
along the grass. The brook that threaded its way in and 
out between the summer hills fed by myriad springs, 
there gathered its life into one eager impulse and dashed 
headlong, through a brief rocky chasm. Then, as if 
stunned and dizzy from its sudden fall, it whirled a mo- 
ment in little swift eddies among the white stones lying 
in its pathway ; regathered its vitality, and danced along 
down the country road, singing, as it went. 

“ What a lovely grove is this ! Let us spend the day 
here,” the children all cried, in delight clapping their 
hands. 

“The day is more than half spent already,” Mrs. 
Thayer said. “We only have time to stop for lunch, 
and then we will have to return.” 

“ Ah ! can we come again ?” 

“ Yes, sometime.” 

The sunlight came flickering down through the trem- 
bling leaves, lighting golden spots all over the soft, mossy 
carpet. 


96 


PALM BRANCHES. 


The tree boughs interlaced in grand arches overhead. 
The long, green tassels kept up a soft drip, dripping from 
the pine trees ; turfing the forest paths with a thick im- 
penetrable wadding, the growth of centuries. 

“This is just the place for a homeless tribe to nest,” 
Miss Cameron suggested, as the romance of the dreamy 
scene crept over her. 

Then, wishing to look as beautiful as circumstances 
would permit, she spread a large scarlet shawl over the 
rocks and green leaves around her, and seated herself 
upon it. 

Daisy awakened from a kind of a daze. Much to her 
surprise, she found herself seated beside Mrs. Mitchell, 
upon a comfortable old hewn log, with Mr. Thayer at 
her left hand, loading her plates with croquettes, sliced 
chicken, and glasses of lemon ice. 

Mr. Carrington some distance off, was waiting upon 
Miss Cameron. Once in a while his eye followed his 
thoughts, and wandered over to Daisy, whose bright face 
had'grown strangely colorless within the past two hours. 

Ihe blessed children kept up their little shouts and 
merry language, while George flew around the table try- 
ing to satisfy them. 

“Now, Mr. Carrington,*" we are ready for "your porte 


PALM BRANCHES. 


97 


folio,” Miss Cameron whined as she pushed back her 
plate. 

^‘It is in the carriage, Edward,” Mrs. Mitchell called 
to him. 

He lifted his hat in reply, and passed out of sight, be- 
tween the bonding branches of the grove. 

Daisy tried to bend her thoughts upon some remote 
subject. 

She picked up a handful of wild flowers that grew in 
blue and pink patches around her. 

Only a few days, and it seems all my life. 

“To morrow, it will be all over. I wonder what I 
shalfdo then !’^ 

She pressed the flowers to her lips that she might 
breathe their soft fragrance. A quivfer trembled eagerly, 
around her girlish mouth. A teardrop glistened upon 
the innocent flower faces. Was it a dew drop that had 
escaped the heat of the morning sun ? Then it sank into 
the heart of the delicate blossoms, and Daisy fastened 
them at her throat beneath the tissue of white lace. 

^ ‘ I must go with the other ladies, and look at those 
pictures, or they will think it strange,” she said, trying 
to resume her armor of self pride. 


98 


PALM BRANCHES. 


How handsome Miss Cameron looks, seated upon 
those rocks. 

‘‘She knows that scarlet drapery is becoming to her. 

“ Hush, Daisy ! Are you growing envious ?” 

She gave herself a sudden shake of reproof. 

The portfolio was nearly emptied of its contents. 
Every one was holding one or two of the drawings, while 
little peals of admiration rang out in a perfect chime. 

“This is a sketch of our hunting party yesterday. 

“Here’s Ned Thayer with his improvised fishpole,” 
Mr. Carrington was saying with animation. 

“You told me you had drawn a sketch for me, Mr. 
Carrington : — something about a rustic bridge, you said,” 
Daisy ventured to remark. 

“ You have a good memory. Miss Daisy, here it is,” 
Mr. Carrington answered indifferently. He took his 
sketch book from his pocket, looked at the drawing, and 
made a few rapid erasures with his pencil. 

“Now, no one will ever guess for whom that was in- 
tended,” he thought, as he handed it to her, and watched 
her expression. She studied the picture, with parted lips. 
A quick blush flashed over her cheek. 

“May I keep it?” she asked without raising her eyes. 

“If you like it,” he replied, coldly turning away. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


99 


“Oh, lovely ! See,” she exclaimed, showing the pretty 
sketch to Mrs. Mitchell. 

Then Francis came up with the horses. 

“ 1 think we shall have to be going, children,” — Mrs. 
Mitchell at last said reluctantly. ^ 

“ O, you dear Cascade ! will I ever see you again?” 
Miss Cameron asked tragically, addressing herself to the 
waterfall. 

“ Plash, plash,” was the only answer that came to her, 
as the brook leaped down its gorge of rocks, and mur- 
mured off into its bedded path down the vale. 


XVIII. 

^ ^ o’clock. That is the first crowing of 

Jj^ Chanticleer,” Mr. Carrington said. 

He had not required sleep. The other gentlemen had 
left him alone, in the musical hush of the summer night. 

“This air is too glorious to be lost,” he had said to 
himself; — “and it may be many a year before 1 shall 
inhale it again.” 

A garland of climbing vines brushed across his cheek, 
half startling him with the touch of its cool sweetness. 
The pale stars grew faint in their far off heights. 


lOO 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“ I wonder if she wilt be up in the morning to see me 
off,” Mr. Carrington at last said, as he moved from his 
window, and tossed himself upon his couch for a short rest. 

The four o’clock birds were thrilling the early dawn 
with their wild warblings. 

After a time, his man came to waken him : and there 
was an emotion of life throughout the hotel, betokening 
also, some important event. 

The bright eyed maidens in their tissuey summer 
dresses flitted through the robing rooms Each one felt 
a degree of sorrow in her heart at the thought of Mr. 
Carrington’s departure : while he, the object of their 
solicitude was awakening with reluctance from his short 
morning nap. 

Close those shutters, Bingel. The glare of that sun- 
light is enough to blind one. 

“ Five o’clock? did you say. 

“In an hou-, the boat leaves.” 

In going down stairs Mr. Carrington met Mr. Thayer. 

“Ah ! ha ! Ned,” he exclaimed. “ Really, this is toa 
great a tax on your chronic weakness, — late rising, — and 
one that I would never have dreamed of making.” 

“ It is pretty early,” Mr. Thayer replied. “The boat 
ought to change its time. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


lOI 


‘‘ But, Mr. Carrington we shall miss you, very much,” 
he added ; his thoughts softening towards his rival. 

There was a rustle of silks on the stairs. 

“ I must confess, it might be pleasant enough here, to 
keep a fellow,” Mr. Carrington said bitterly. 

“You speak in riddles,” Mr. Thayer said, suddenly 
growing haughty. “ But if you refer to Miss Cameron, 
I will promise to keep her reminded of you, and to keep 
all other adorers away.” 

“Ah! Here she comes herself, to give me an early 
good-bye. 

“ What had I better say to her Ned, that is the most 
polite ?” Mr. Carrington inquired with a laughl . 

“ You know better than I, how to declare yourself, I 
am sure,” Mr. Thayer answered. 

“See, Mr. Carrington, how much you are admired. 
There are a dozen or more of those lovely beings floating 
this way at this barbarous hour, just to take one long, 
lingering farewell look at you.” 

“ Hush I they will hear you. 

“ Good morning ladies, you are early birds to day.” 

“We thought we would be up in time to see the sun 
rise,” Miss Cameron said coquettishly. 

“No, we are here, expressly to see you off, Uncle 
Edward,” Lilia Mitchell exclaimed. 


102 


PALM BRANCHES. 


“ We are all here now, but Daisy. She says she has a 
headache this morning, and refuses to come down.” 

“ I sadly lament that such a cruel word has to be 
spoken, ladies,” Mr. Carrington said. 

He glanced at the ladies in appreciation of their kind- 
ness, and then he glanced at Miss Cameron sarcastically. 

Oh, what shall we do without him ! A thousand 
pities that he has to go !” Miss Cameron exclaimed, 
tragically appealing to the other ladies. At the same 
time, she thought to herself, 

“I wonder now, if he could speak to me alone, if he' 
would not like to propose. 

“ He says that a good-bye to me, will be a cruel word. 
And of course that is the same as a proposal, although I 
cannot claim it for one. O dear, I have tried to give 
him plenty of encouragement. Why has he not spoken 
to me before ! 

“ That girl Daisy isn’t here. I must have been mis- 
taken about her. She does not care for him. O my, he 
is going.” 

While Miss Cameron was musing bitterly to herself, 
the groups of pretty girls stood clustered around the 
parlor, their images reflecting in the long mirror over 
the mantel. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


103 


They mostly had blue eyes, and pale, immobile faces. 
Those clasped their small, white hands and gazed upward, 
like so many saintly Madonnas. 

The others, who had soft, brown, gazelle like eyes, 
drooped their heads pensively upon their tinted palms, 
with a deep silence to betray their sorrow for the friend 
who was going away. 

A shrill whistle came from the steamer. 

Mrs. Mitchell took her brother’s arm to walk to the 
landing with him. Lilia and Annie also followed. 

As Mr. Carrington was stepping aboard, he said to his 
sister, 

^‘Tell Daisy to stop her flirting, or she will lose all 
her friends.” 

“ Daisy has too much sense to flirt. You are mistaken, 
Edward,” Mrs. Mitchell said decidedly. 

It was too late for Mr. Carrington to reply, so he only 
shook his head as if he still doubted. 

The boat could not longer deJay. It was pushing 
gently away from the pier. The wheels were revolving 
slowly as Mrs. Mitchell uttered her last word. 

She looked steadily into her brother’s face, and there 
read to her astonishment, a secret which she had never 
guessed before. The mask had fallen from the stern 
man’s heart. Anguish quivered over his features. 


PALM BRANCHES, 


104 

The revealment was instantaneous. With the next 
breath he had recovered himself, but he was whirled 
away, out into the harbor. A line of foam tracked the 
steamer until it was out of sight. 


XIX. 

0 AISY looked around her, and felt an indescribable 
sensation of loneliness in the atmosphere. The 
skies were just as blue, as a warm summer day could dye 
them. A strong, bright sunshine gilded the ocean with 
an extravagance of light. The birds twittered gaily, 
among the wooded trees, and yet to Daisy the morning 
seemed troubled. 

It was too bad to have him go, all alone.” 

The hotel seemed empty. She paced up and down 
the terrace. A grey squirrel frisked across her path. It 
was not afraid. It ran into the woods near by, with its 
nose bobbing about, among the ferns and wild flowers. 
Pretty soon, it found a soft acorn. What a nice break- 
fast for the tiny elf ! 

Lovely children in their white lace flutings, came forth 
for the morning air, borne in their nurses’ arms. 

A few small toddlers that had lived through three sum- 


PALM BRANCHES, 


105 

mers, balanced back and forth, the length of the large 
porch, while the sweet prattle of their childish voices 
melted into the morning hour, with the freshness of early 
dew. 

There was a sudden flutter of silken robes, above, at 
Miss Cameron’s window. 

‘ Good-bye, Sweetheart, good-bye,’ ” Miss Cameron 
was singing in her highest soprano. 

“Daisy?” 

She looked up when she heard her name called, but 
the sweet face had lost its smile. 

“You ought to have been down there an hour ago,” 
Mrs. Mitchell said sharply. 

“You ought to have heard Somebody’s parting message. 

“ You don’t know what you missed.” 

“Aw !” — Daisy drawled, with an attempt at comedy. 
Then she subsided into quiet. 

Small boats were ferrying up and down the harbor, 
and tall sails climbed the horizon that waived out to sea. 

From the window overhead, the odor of white rose 
sifted in a subtle fragrance, down through the elastic air. 

Then the sound of voices reached her sensitive ear. 
The talking was at first deliberate, and subdued : but 
gradually it rose to a higher, angry pitch. 

It was Miss Cameron, talking to Mrs. Mitchell. 


io6 


PALM BRANCHES. 


As the sound became more excited, the first word that 
struck Daisy’s hearing, was her own name. Piqued into 
curiosity, she did what any one else in the same position 
would be tempted to do. 

She listened to what her enemy had to say against her. 

“ That girl Daisy, is a vain child. It is too bad for 
her to be so petted by society. It will just spoil her.” 

Poor Miss Cameron’s voice trembled. She had lost 
all caution in the excess of her jealous rage. 

Mrs. Mitchell had been trying to pacify her by mild 
entreaties ; but now astonished beyond all previous ex- 
perience at catching that dark glimpse of the young 
lady’s character, she drew lierself up erect, and hurried 
out of the room. At the door, she stopped a moment, 
^nd said, 

“Miss Cameron, you had better be careful what you 
say about my friends. The child that you speak of now, 
is very dear to me.” 

Miss Cameron perceived at once, that she had said the 
wrong thing. Mrs. Mitchell was too much Daisy’s friend 
to ever be prejudiced against her. 

Miss Cameron ought to have accustomed herself to 
being dropped. 

Mr. Carrington was gone. That was true. And that 
he would not return, was another truth. 


PALM BRANCHES, 


07 


After waiting so many years, she still considere4 it a 
very uncomfortable loneness, to be left like a wall flower, 
— ever waiting for somp one to come and pluck her from 
the wall. 

‘‘I am indeed, alone. I am deserted,” she said with 
a selfish pang, as she watched the last flutter of Mrs. 
Mitchell’s robe disappearing through the doorway. 

“I will leave here ! I will go in this evening’s boat. 
I will call Marie to do my packing.” 

She rang her bell furiously, at the same time singing at 
the top of her voice, 

^ “ Good-bye, Sweetheart, good-bye.’ ” 

It was a suggestive song, sung at that time. 

The clear notes rang out through the quiet atmosphere, 
with a startling purity. A jealous threat thrilled all 
through the Cameron’s singing. 

Daisy started nervously^ as though she had been stung. 

^‘Good-bye nothing!” she said proudly, with a defiant 
toss of her pretty head, not deigning to notice the music 
again. 

All summer long, Daisy had been persecuted by the 
Cameron.: and it had been done in such a hidden way, 
that there had been no appeal. 

Sly taunts and dark looks had been given at the mo- 


io8 


PALM BRANCHES. 


ment when she wished to drive Daisy away from the 
Mitchells ; while she had ceaselessly insinuated herself, 
into their unsuspecting, kind esteem. 

Daisy had endured it all, in silence, until she heard 
herself openly accused. She had not heard Mrs. Mitch- 
ell’s reply to the Cameron, and her fears became very 
oppressive. 

‘‘She will get me into trouble with them all. It is too 
bad for her to talk so. What have I ever done to injure 
her, that she should pursue me in such a merciless way. 

“Now, I shall lose Mrs. Mitchell, and Annie, and 
Lilia, if they believe what she says against me.” 

But there was no .danger of that. 

The Cameron did not make her appearance down stairs 
again, that morning. 

At noon, it was whispered about the hotel that Miss 
Cameron intended to leave by the evening boat. Indeed, 
she thought it would look less like defeat, if she con- 
descended to bid Mrs. Mitchell good-bye, which she did; 
telling her that she was going but that she wished nothing 
said about it. 

When the evening boat departed, it carried away the 
Cameron, alone with her maid. The ladies in the hotel 
were all asleep. No one wished her farewell. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


109 


Daisy could hardly believe her good luck. Alas, it 
had come too late. Her enemy had departed. — 

One who had carried *away her heart had also gone, 
and he never returned. 

The summer lived its brief life, and died away. 

Mrs. Mitchell wanted to take Daisy home with her, but 
the child refused to go. Her short experience that night 
at the party, and her subsequent treatment from the 
Cameron had satisfied her. 

“I will never go to the city again. I am better off 
here,” she thought. 

After the summer guests had all departed, however, 
Daisy had to make company of her own thoughts. The 
sea and the tall, shore rocks became her companions. 
She would talk to them by the hour, without fear of be- 
ing betrayed. No winter day was too stormy for her to 
brave. She was happiest in a storm. She loved to breast 
the wildest winds, and clamber over her beloved rocks 
when the foam was dashing in showers around them. 

Winter evenings, Daisy amused herself by reading sea 
story books, while the large mirror over the parlor mantel 
seemed to whisper audibly of the fair, girlish figure that 
was reflected within its crystal depths. 

A bracket supporting a full rigged miniature ship hung 
in one corner of the room. 


no 


PALM BRANCHES. 


A case of ornamental shelves was suspended in a niche 
in the wall, and was packed full of sea story books. Be- 
tween the front windows, stood a high, inlaid cabinet 
containing sea shells, and Chinese trinkets that had been 
sent home years ago, by Hugh. 

Two or three large foi'est sticks were burning between 
the bright andirons on the hearth : and as they crackled 
and blazed up the frosty chimney, they emitted a sweet 
odor of spicy wood, with a memory of the autumn nut- 
ting time. 

Daisy was curled up in the same corner of the lounge 
where Alma had found rest so many years before. 

The light from the burning logs played over her girlish 
form, wrapping its heat around her, with all the ardor of 
a caress. 

The colors in the soft Persian carpet glowed with a 
warm lustre by the winter evening lamp light. 

From the wall, the beautiful portrait of Alma smiled 
down upon her child. 

At the windows, the long crimson curtains were closely 
drawn to keep out the cold night air. 

Witl¥)ut, the storm was raging, and the snow puffed in 
soft pads against the window panes. 

Daisy loved to hear the elements wage their fierce 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Ill 


battle. If she had been a boy, she would have taken to 
the sea, as her father had. 

Being a girl, she must sit at home, and wait for her 
fate to close around her. 


XX. 

B AISY thought it was a most unhappy fate, which 
soon enveloped her. 

In the spring time, Mr. and Mrs. Russell died within a 
few days of each other, of a fever. 

They left Daisy with small wealth to support her, and 
no protector, excepting Margaret. 

Mrs. Mitchell wrote to Daisy inviting her to go abroad 
with them. They were to be absent a number of years. 
Daisy’s grief was supreme. What should she do, without 
those dear ones ! Her heart seemed breaking. 

The sea could beat wildly against the shelly shore, but 
it could not beat more wildly than the sorrow in her soul. 

Summer came with its flowers and its birds, but there 
was no more fragrance or mirth in Daisy’s life. 

The hotel refused to take any visitors. Maybe it 
would never again be opened. Daisy kept it as her own 


I 12 


PALM BRANCHES. 


home. She and Margaret lived there quietly, together. 

Andrew cultivated the gardens, and found a ready 
market for all his flowers and fresh vegetables, which he 
carried by steamer to the city. 

George had built him a cottage not far from the hotel, 
and had married a village maiden to keep him company. 
He also had gardens, and supplied the neighboring 
country with fresh fruits of the season. 

Ever since she had lived in America, Margaret had 
received at distant intervals, letters from the Langdon 
family. The arrival of one of those missives was an 
event in her life, over which she dreamed, until the next 
one came. 

The Langdons were a lovely English family, and Mar- 
garet was to them, always grateful and true. 

One day, another letter came from them, saying, that 
an American party had visited at their house, — Judge 
Mitchell’s family, — in London. 

Daisy knew that Mr. Carrington was with them. 

“How delightful that is, they have found the kind 
ones who befriended my mother,” she said. And then 
her faint heart took courage again. 

She must go and tell it to the sea : for, that was what 
she did with all her good news. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


113 

The great breakers came tumbling in, and laying their 
tears at her feet. 

“You have tears of joy for me to-day, have you not, 
old Ocean ! O bring me good tidings again.” 

Daisy loved the ocean. She lay out on her rocks half 
the day. It was a regular nest, in which she bedded her- 
self as an oyster might fit into its shell. 

She climbed up her rocks, as a monarch might ascend 
her throne. They belonged to Daisy. They had always 
been hers. No one would dare question her right to 
them. 

She had her small boats in which she sailed and drifted 
hour after hour ; sometimes with Margaret, oftener by 
herself. She could manage them with perfect ease, and 
she was never afraid on the water, in a storm, or -a calm. 


XXI. 

T WO years passed away, in a routine which would 
have been dull to others, but to Daisy each day 
was filled with continual change. She embodied all 
things visible with life. She made playmates of the 
pretty gold and silver shells on the beach. She boated, 
and she fished, and she swam like any boy. Sometimes 
[* 8 .] 


PALM BRANCHES. 


114 


she sailed so far out into the sea, that the hotel and the 
shore were beyond sight. At times she felt immensely 
tempted to take ship and sail to foreign lands. 

“ Sometime 1 will take my Margaret and go," she 
said, addressing herself to the ocean. 

Daisy could not realize that she was no longer a child, 
but that she was a beautiful woman. 

It was two years since she had seen a living soul to 
speak to, excepting Margaret. 

It was a rough day, but the waves were not wild, and 
she thought she would go out for a short sail. 

“ I will coast along shore," she called to Margaret, as 
she stepped jauntily down to the beach. 

Her golden curls were blowing in beautiful confusion 
around her shoulders. She was habited in a yachting 
suit of blue flannel. She looked like a sea nymph riding 
the waves. 

“That child will be lost some day," Margaret said 
portentiously shaking her head, as she stood in the door- 
way and looked after the darling. 

“There is no keeping her in. I believe the wilder 
the weather, the better she likes it." 

A ship lay out in the offing. It was so large an ocean 
ship, as Daisy could not remember ever having seen 
before. She recognized it at once. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


115 


“ What a superb creature that is! ” she said in delight 
■at the huge black mass that lay on the water, with its 
network of ropes and masts. 

There. It drifts nearer into the harbor.” 

“ Now, a small boat is lowered. Some one is coming 
ashore. I will go out and meet it.” 

As the small boats came alongside, the occupants 
looked with curiosity at each other. They had not long 
to look, for the waves came rolling up, and dashed them 
apart. Daisy had merely caught sight of a gentleman : 
a very handsome man he appeared at the first glance ; 
and very bronzed. Then she heard her name called in 
a quick, eager tone. 

“ Daisy ? ” 

“Yes,” she answered : and that was all she could say, 
for the wind was then running so high, it required all 
her skill and strength to reef her sails, and run her boat 
ashore. 

The stranger sat quietly in his boat, watching the 
movements of the girl. 

“She was born for the sea,” he mentally commented. 

“ How gracefully she guides through those waves. 

“ Hurry men,” he said to his oarsmen, “ or she will 
reach the shore before us. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


1 1 6 


‘ ‘ Take care of those rocks ! More to the left ! There 
now straight in ! Here we are !” 

The boat grated on the shelly sand, and the traveler 
stepped ashore. 

Daisy was there awaiting him. The salt breeze had 
brought a color into her bright face. She was radiant as 
a fabled Hebe, as she stood poised half defiantly awaiting 
what the stranger would say to her. 

“Where’s your father, Child?” 

“ My father’s dead.” 

“ Do you think so ? ” 

“ Yes, many years ago.” 

“ Where did he die ? ” 

Daisy did not propose to answer any more such uncivil 
questions. It was none of the stranger’s business where 
her father had been drowned. No one had ever asked 
her that before. Immediately a vision arose to her ex- 
cited mind, of what her father might have done for her 
if he had lived. How different would have been her 
life. He would have taken her with him around the 
world. She could have gone to those dear, far off lands 
where ever, she longed to go. She could have had 
some one to shield her. 

Her old sorrow for the impossible came again into her 
throat in the old gasps. 


FALM BRANCHES. 


117 


She was indignant with the stranger for questioning 
her so rudely. She turned slightly, and glanced up at 
the hotel. It was but a step across the beach. She could 
have taken flight and reached Margaret in an instant. 

The stranger spoke again, and that time there was a 
d.ramatic precision in his voice, which stopped her. 

Daisy, what would you say, if I should tell you that 
your father is not dead.” 

Very slowly the words were uttered. Each sound fell 
on her ear clearly, like the taun tings of a despair. 

She felt that she was in an horrible dream, from which 
she could not shake herself. 

She passed her hand wonderingly over her forehead. 

She looked at the stranger in amazement, and then 
glanced out at the ocean. There lay the great, black 
ship at anchor : — out at the mouth of the harbor. 

What a strange dream it was, to seem to be so true ! 
The breeze blew roughly over her, and the small sea 
shells were tumbling in wet heaps around her feet. 

“ What does the man mean ?” sh^ said to the waves. 

“Did you ever hear of Mr. Langdon, of England?” 
he next inquired. 

“ He saved my mother’s lifej” .Daisy answered, clasp- 
ing her small tanned hands over her heart to quiet its 
painful throbbings. 


ii8 


PALM BRANCHES, 


He is a good man. One could not doubt his truth/* 
the stranger said. Then, he commenced to speak 
rapidly. “ Mr. Langdon, the importer, found me on 
an island near Sumatra, in the Indian Ocean, a few weeks 
ago. He told me that Alma had been saved from the 
sea, and that by coming to my old home on the Connec- 
ticut shore, I could find you, Daisy.” 

Daisy shaded her eyes with one hand. She bent for- 
ward in a startled inclination, while she gazed at the un- 
known being before her, — from the far off Indian sea! — . 

She still doubted, but the ocean waves had grown 
strangely calm, within the last few moments : and the sun 
had broken through a rift in the clouds, and was shining 
down on the scene. 

The sailors had pushed a short way off from shore> 
and were silently leaning forward upoji their oars. 

“Is it Hugh?” Daisy said, in a dreamy, far away 
voice. She was thinking of Alma her beautiful mother. 

“Yes, it is Hugh,” the handsome stranger answered* 
Still, he did not take another step towards her. 

A bright ray of sunlight touched his brow, and illu- 
mined his face with Daisy’s own, wilful expression. The 
resemblance was unmistakable. 

Still, Daisy stood there on the beach, bending forward 


PALM BRANCHES. 


119 


hesitatingly, eagerly, doubtingly ; her lips apart, while a 
gathering foreknowledge was rising in her eyes. 

“Daisy, my Child !” he exclaimed in a half whisper, 
outstretching his arms to his daughter. 

“Don’t you know me? Won’t you come to me? 
Won’t you come to your old Father ? Daisy !” 

With a low, glad cry, she knelt on the sands before 
him. What was it to her that the huge waves came roll- 
ing in and drenching her. They had brought her father 
home. She had always loved them. Now, — they were 
more precious to her, than ever. 

He raised her from the sands. For a moment, the 
outer world seemed annihilated. 

“ My Father !” — was all that she could utter. 


XXII. 

R. Russell’s return was heralded with delight b^ 
all the neighboring villages. He was welcomed 
as a hero. Many of his old friends declared that they 
always knew Hugh would come back. Daisy was deeply 
absorbed in contemplating her long dreamed of parent. 
She was jealous of the very air he breathed, lest he 
should dissolve into its transparent essence. All summer 



120 


PALM BRANCHES. 


he was relating to her the many events which had crowd- 
ed his life during the past years. Whenever he alluded 
to Mr. Langdon, the thought would dawn in Daisy’s mind, 

“ Mr. Carrington met Mr. Langdon in London. I 
wonder if he sent him to find my father for me.” 

In the winter they went to the city, and purchased a 
beautiful home. Mr. Russell lavished every magnificence 
upon it, for he had acquired immense wealth in his 
oriental negotiations. 

He loaded Daisy with pearls and precious gems that a 
princess might have coveted. They kept their carriages, 
and were courted by all the grandees of the city ; for 
Mr-. Russell was a polished, elegant gentleman. Then, 
Daisy’s merit indeed shone forth. All her good fortune 
did not spoil her. She was ever the simple, beautiful 
maiden, who had loved her country home. 

The Mitchells were yet abroad. Letters came from 
them by frequent steamers, but not a word was yet said 
about their return. 

One day Mr. Russell came into the house, looking for 
Daisy. He found her in the library. 

Daisy,” he said, “ I just met an old friend of yours 
in the city. Why have you not told me about him. I 
invited him to call.” 


PALM BRANCHES. 


21 


Who is it, Papa ?” Daisy inquired with seeming care- 
lessness, while all her vital life rushed in a quick tide to 
her heart. 

“ Mr. Carrington.” 

thought he was yet abroad,” Daisy said, speaking 
with effort. 

“ He has been home some time.” 

‘‘When do you think he will come?” Daisy next in- 
quired, betraying at last her satisfaction by the happy 
tone of her voice. She flew across the room to bring 
her father’s slippers. 

“ Ah ! ha !” he laughed. “You would like to have 
him call, would you. Little One ! Well, he is coming. 

“You may expect him at any time. I told him this 
was your reception evening. So you may look your 
prettiest.” 


XXIII. 


AISY was surrounded by her guests. The drawing 



room glittered with its costly and exquisite orna- 


mentations. Lustral evening lights shed their soft blaze 
from the chandeliers. An orchestra of harps hidden 
among distant plants, thrilled the air with their pleading, 
impassioned music. 


122 


PALM BRANCHES. 


Daisy was suberbly radiant. Margaret had arrayed 
her in the most becoming of evening toilettes. 

There was a splendid light in her eyes. There was a 
flush of expectancy in her entire being. 

Those who had admired her, now looked at her with 
increased wonderment. She was dazzling. She was be- 
wildering in her brilliant loveliness. 

Later in the evening, there was a subdued excitement 
throughout the rooms. 

Daisy became aware of the strange magnetism which 
suddenly permeated the house. 

Her guests retreated from her, leaving her for a 
moment alone. Her father was "approaching her by the 
side of Mr. Carrington. 

How guiltily conscious she had suddenly become ! 

She wished she were anywhere else ; or safe, in the 
seclusion of her own apartment. But she could not move. 

A strange alarm enchained her. In another moment, 
a palm grasped hers within its own, and a dark face was 
bending close to her. 

<< Daisy !” 

It was his first word. It was enough. Her hand 
dropped to her side. Half defiantly she raised her head, 
and then, — all the bitter past was forgotten. 


PALM BRANCHES. 


123 


The Cameron’s cruelty, Daisy’s own anguish ; all dis- 
appeared from memory at sight of this, — her dear friend 
restored to her again. He had remembered her, and 
had come to seek her again. 

It was only a momentary glance, and yet it seemed an 
eternity. A smile broke over her face, and her lips 
quivered as she inquired, 

“ Mr. Carrington, how did you find me ?” 

“ Are you glad I have come ?” he answered, and then 
as she turned her head wilfully away from him, he said 
to her in his old imperious fashion, 

Daisy, you must stop all this nonsense with me. 
You have been very wicked and unkind to me. But 
now, you never can leave me again. Do you hear that. 
Little One ?” 

How mournfully he thought of the dreary waste of 
time, that might otherwise have been such a joy. 

“What is that you are talking about?” she said coldly,, 
trying to reason herself back into her old power of for-" 
getfulne^. 

“Daisy do not treat me so,” her lover said imperiously. 

“ But I do not understand you,” she presisted. 

The atmosphere trembled with the musical vibrations 
from the distant harps. The guests were promenading 


124 


PALM BRANCHES, 


through the glittering rooms. They seemed to have 
forgotten Daisy, when they left her for her interview 
with her newly arrived friend. After a short silence, 

‘ ‘ Daisy do you recall that love scene in the conserva- 
tory at my sister’s ?” he said. 

“I remember when you kissed me once,” she whis- 
pered half inaudibly, while she tried to smother a smile 
that would creep over her face. She was commencing 
to understand him now. — His manner was irresistible. 
She was nearly quelled. And yet she sought to regain 
her old spirit of tormenting. 

“ But that was so long ago,” she said, glancing archly 
out at him, from under her curls. 

“ O, not so very long ago,” Mr. Carrington answered 
coolly. “ It only seems a moment to me.”. 

Then his manner changed to vehemence. 

“Daisy,” he said hurriedly, “I have watched over 
you, ever since. Some of the time, I have hated you. 
If I could have seen you dead and buried, I should have 
been glad. But Daisy, there is no help for it. I think 
I shall have to marrj you now, — I think our time has 
come.” He paused a moment, for her reply. 

“You would never have said this, only you were afraid 
that I would marry Ned Thayer, and that sometime, I 


PALM BRANCHES. 


125 


might forget my honor to you, and tell him that once, 
in the long past, I had loved you, and that you had 
kissed me. Then, at that, your dignity would have been 
mortified.” The old look of distress had come again 
into Daisy’s face. Her calm was disturbed. The old 
gasps threatened to choke her. What was her newly 
found friend to her now ? Where had the melody gone 
out of her night ? Where was the fragrance melted out 
of her tropical flower hearts ? 

His voice, — the voice she had dreamed of so painfully, 
through all those years, — again took up the silence and 
wove it into speech. 

Daisy,” it said, I never was afraid of your marry- 
ing Ned Thayer. I knew that you never could marry 
him. — Your heart would never have allowed you to 
marry any one. No, no. I was not afraid of that. 
That could not have been. 

But Daisy,” he spoke rapidly, “ you owe me a debt 
of gratitude. I sent Mr. Langdon from London, to find 
your father for you, after he told me he had seen such 
a name, somewhere in the East. 

You must marry me now, to-night, or I will be re- 
venged. I will track enemies after your father who will 
despoil him of all his wealth and power. I will do it in 


126 


PALM BRANCHES. 


such a quiet way, that no one will ever know from where 
the evil comes. And I will send worse than that upon 
you, Daisy. I will trouble you in your every day life, so 
that you will be glad to die.” 

His words were cruel, but a keen, subtle delight per- 
vaded his presence, which recalled Daisy to a memory of 
that sweet, fair night in the long ago, when she had given 
up her soul into that dark cruel man’s savage keeping. 

“ What would my father say to that?” she inquired in 
a whisper. She was yielding now, and he knew it. 

“I arranged all that, this afternoon in an interview 
with him, which I sought down town at the office of a 
mutual friend. He gave his consent to my marrying 
you, and I have come here to-night for that purpose. 
Now you must say ‘ yes, ’ Daisy. All these people around 
us are our friends that I have invited here by appoint- 

f 

ment to witness our marriage. Margaret has dressed you 
by design in white. Now you are ready. Take courage. 
It will soon be over, and then you will be mine.'" 

‘‘ Will you ever hate me again?” Dais yasked, saucily. 

“ I will, if you do not do right. You must obey me. 
Now do you understand, Daisy?” He glowered at her 
with one of his overwhelming looks out of which the 
fierceness had all died away. 


FALM BRANCHES. 


27 


“ O dear. How much better time he could have with- 
out me,” she thought with a sigh, “traveling around the 
world alone ; without any one hanging onto him.” 

Before Daisy cou4d speak again, there was a minister 
standing before her with an open book in his hand. 
She had not seen him enter. Where he had come from, 
she could not imagine. But there he stood looking so 
solemn and decided, that Daisy was frightened. 

He spoke a few words, in which Mr. Carrington’s 
voice joined. Daisy could never afterwards remember 
how she had found courage to speak a word, but in an- 
other moment, she found herself married. 

How like a dream it ail was. It had transpired so 
rapidly. Her guests then came crowding around her to 
congratulate her. And foremost among them were Judge 
and Mrs. Mitchell, and Annie and Lilia, accompanied 
by numerous members of the Langdon family, who had 
come to America with the express design of witnessing 
Alma’s child wedded. 

What an enchanting surprise it all was. 

There were persons present who had ridiculed Daisy 
the night of the birthday party ; but she was as lovely 
then, — as she was the night of her wedding. 


128 


PALM BPANCHES. 


Mr. Russell had consented to the marriage, that after- 
noon, in an interview with Mr. Carrington. 

Margaret had easily persuaded her to dress for the 
evening, in an embroidered white silk. For Daisy dearly 
loved white, and frequently preferred to wear it. 

The Mitchells and the Langdons had arrived by that 
day’s steamer. The city guests had casually arrived, by 
invitation from Mr. Carrington. 

Daisy had expected every one, because it was her 
regular evening, and her receptions were always crowded, 
they , were so delightful. 

Then, the ring was on her finger; the solemn words 
were spoken, and she knew that she belonged to him. 
That he never again would desert her. 

Again he drew her to himself, as once before, in the 
stealthy silence of the conservatory. 

And they kissed before the city world. 

They loved, and were not ashamed. 


Por^et-ime-not. 

.My Jh^lo’iV^er. 

t 0reaiB of 0aAyi\. 
l^espaiT'. 

.Mn'acle. 

T?Mi l^aisief:^ of May. 
'rije 8ii'ea. 

k ‘Pei‘0iat) f^aii^y 'faie. 




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